Most criminals serve their sentences in the community. So what does community work involve?

Photograph: RNZ/Calvin Samuel

In September, after a trial that captivated the country, retired eye surgeon Philip Polkinghorne was found not guilty of murdering his wife Pauline Hanna.

But in November that prisoner 150 hours community work for drug possession.

Judge Graham Lang said Polkinghorne’s defense recommended he be fined about $650. The maximum fine that could be assessed was $1,000.

But given the Auckland doctor’s “healthy financial position”, Lang said “a fine would have no deterrent effect and would not be sufficient to hold you properly accountable for your offending”.

We do not know where Polkinghorne would do his social work. However, like most criminals, his sentence will be served in the community rather than prison.

What is the scope of community work?

This is one of a number of sentences and commandments that can be applied in society. As the name suggests, it involves doing work for free.

The Criminal Code 2002 establishes: hierarchy of sentences and commandsAt least to the most restrictive. The least restrictive is an order to release or appear for sentencing if summoned. So no penalty was given. Next up are fines and payments. Next come community-based community work and supervision sentences, followed by intensive supervision and community detention. On the next line: home detention. Most restrictive? Prison sentence, of course.

Toni Stewart, the Department of Corrections’ chief probation officer, said people subject to community work carry out a wide range of supervised work that benefits local communities.

“Projects can range from building bench seats for parks, to planting native trees and growing vegetables for donation, to making thermal blankets from recycled chip packs.”

It is the responsibility of the relevant probation officer to determine what the offender will do. The officer will take into account matters such as the person’s offending, personal circumstances, needs and abilities.

If a criminal has an organization in mind, he can discuss it with his probation officer.

Work is done either in a work group supervised by community probation staff (this is called central placement) or individually through placement in an institution.

by numbers

More than 30,000 community-based sentences (an offender can serve more than one sentence at any one time) were carried out in the last financial year, according to data released by Statistics New Zealand on November 7. Meanwhile, there were fewer than 10,000 people in prison.

According to Corrections, the most serious convictions for community-based offenders include traffic offenses (24 per cent), followed by acts intended to cause injury (20 per cent) and offenses against justice (11 per cent).

An inmate’s most serious crime was most likely to be sexual assault (21 percent), followed by acts intended to cause injury (20 percent) and theft (11 percent).

And people in both groups were most likely men between the ages of 30 and 39. Just under half of community-based offenders and just over half of prisoners were Māori.

In 2023, offenders nationwide completed more than 660,000 hours of community work.

How long does it take for a criminal to complete his sentence?

Community work penalties can range from 40 to 400 hours.

Offenders are encouraged to complete their hours as quickly as possible, within limits. They can work a maximum of 10 hours a day and up to 40 hours a week. And they must complete at least 100 hours or remaining sentence every six months.

Chris Wilkinson-Smith, immediate past president of the Criminal Bar Association and a trial lawyer for more than 25 years, knows people who have been sentenced to nearly 400 hours in prison.

Criminals often work full time and have families.

“This is where it becomes a real punishment,” he said. “What little free time they have, they spend on community work.”

If an offender is sentenced to 80 hours or more in jail, the court may order that up to 20 percent of those hours be spent on cooking, driving, budgeting, etc. It may allow time to be spent learning basic job and life skills, such as

Can you choose your placement?

Stewart said parole officers will consider the offender’s previous work history as well as factors such as “adjustment, risk level, gang affiliations and any health issues.”

“We also consider factors such as current employment and family obligations when planning community operating hours.”

Wilkinson-Smith said offenders may recommend a particular charity or voluntary organization looking for help.

But he said some groups aren’t comfortable hosting a felon. And a settlement cannot be considered a “soft option”.

“It must be a real job.”

Situations where the offender has special skills and requires a team to help them perform those skills (such as surgery) can be more difficult, he said.

“If all parties are willing, maybe there’s a possibility… 150 hours of dedicated service is a valuable thing.”

Wellingtonian Russell Taylor managed and supervised community offenders for decades from the 1980s. He told RNZ from his own experience that offenders and the community get the most out of placements tailored to the individual’s skills and interests.

Taylor recalled that one of the delinquents did not perform well in the group. Taylor gave the man loppers and pruning shears and told him to cut down an overgrown walkway in the Aro Valley.

“It took him four weeks. Yes, he probably lay out in the sun for a while. But he worked much better alone than with a group. And it became an incredibly popular hiking trail.”