Daily Life

03/24/21 • 35 min

If you treat inmates like animals, they’ll act like animals. What happens when they get out of jail? Would you want them living in your suburb?

In the third episode of Behind the Walls: Daily Life, crime author and former journalist Michael Duffy learns how inmates – and staff – spend a typical day at prisons including Cessnock, Dawn de Loas and Bathurst correctional centres.

Macquarie Correctional Centre prison officer Liz Sears tells Michael:

“Essentially our job as a prison officer is to make our community safer, and in order to do that we need to give these inmates as much chance as possible to re-enter society and be safe, because they will be living next door to us.

“We are not giving them any more than what they deserve or any more than anyone else on the outside deserves, we are just giving our community as a whole, the chance to be safe.”

Behind the Walls is produced by Corrective Services NSW, part of the Department of Communities and Justice. If you like our show, please give us a rating or a review.

Host: Michael Duffy

Technical Production and Design: Ben Cork

With thanks to the following guests: Charles Heath, Craig Smith, Paul Coyne, Angela Feeney, Liz Sears, Faith Slatcher, Mick Chesworth and Glen Wharton.

We are grateful for the assistance of staff at Glen Innes, Cessnock, Dawn de Loas, Macquarie, Bathurst, Cooma and Kirkconnell correctional centres.

For more stories on prison and parole:

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If you treat inmates like animals, they’ll act like animals. What happens when they get out of jail? Would you want them living in your suburb?

Macquarie Correctional Centre prison officer Liz Sears tells Michael:

“We are not giving them any more than what they deserve or any more than anyone else on the outside deserves, we are just giving our community as a whole, the chance to be safe.”

Behind the Walls is produced by Corrective Services NSW, part of the Department of Communities and Justice. If you like our show, please give us a rating or a review.

Host: Michael Duffy

Technical Production and Design: Ben Cork

With thanks to the following guests: Charles Heath, Craig Smith, Paul Coyne, Angela Feeney, Liz Sears, Faith Slatcher, Mick Chesworth and Glen Wharton.

We are grateful for the assistance of staff at Glen Innes, Cessnock, Dawn de Loas, Macquarie, Bathurst, Cooma and Kirkconnell correctional centres.

For more stories on prison and parole:

Like us on Facebook

Listen on Simplecast

[email protected]

Previous Episode

Security

Would you believe that some inmates actually ask to be sent to Australia’s toughest and most regimented prison, Supermax?

In the second episode of Behind the Walls: Security, crime author and former journalist Michael Duffy learns about prison-yard hierarchies and how to stop inmates from attacking each other.

“There’s no doubt that security is the core function of a prison, but security means much more than just locking people up and watching them from towers so they don’t escape,” Michael says.

“It means keeping inmates from attacking each other, or rioting, or attacking our officers or prison property.

“That means our officers need to know what’s going on among the inmate population. To do that, they have to walk among the inmates, talk to them, gather and respond to intelligence.”

Behind the Walls is produced by Corrective Services NSW, part of the Department of Communities and Justice. If you like our show, please give us a rating or a review.

Host: Michael Duffy

Technical Production and Design: Ben Cork

With thanks to the following guests: Dale Ashcroft, Craig Smith, Angela Feeney, Lee Caines, Sarah, Shae Field, Andrew Guffogg, Todd Williams, Paul Coyne.

We are grateful for the assistance of staff at Cooma, Dawn De Loas, Lithgow, Bathurst, Kirkconnell and Cessnock correctional centres.

For more stories on prison and parole:

Like us on Facebook

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Next Episode

Rehabilitation

A prison governor becomes good mates with a former inmate and even gives a speech at his wedding.

In the fourth episode of Behind the Walls: Rehabilitation, crime author and former journalist Michael Duffy talks to former inmate Damian Cuff about the friendship he has formed with Governor Mark Kennedy.

Damian spent 19 years in-and-out of prison for a range of crimes including armed robbery, kidnapping and drug use.

“Normally blokes get out and they go back to the same area, the same people that they always hung with and got in trouble with,” Damian says.

“I was given an opportunity before I got out here. I did works release and I still work for that company now - they offered me a position if I was willing to stay in Bathurst and what better opportunity than to start fresh.

“I’m still mates with Kenno (Mark) because Kenno, he knew about me, but he didn’t want to make me feel like I was a criminal, or I was different. I was just one of the boys playing football.”

Behind the Walls is produced by Corrective Services NSW, part of the Department of Communities and Justice. If you like our show, please give us a rating or a review.

Host: Michael Duffy

Technical Production and Design: Ben Cork

With thanks to the following guests: Wayne Bywater, Jacqueline Forbes, Karen Allen, India McMillan, Mark Kennedy, Rowena Mustard, Charles Heath and Damian Cuff.

We are grateful for the assistance of staff at Glen Innes, Cessnock, Dawn de Loas, Macquarie, Bathurst, Cooma and Kirkconnell correctional centres.
For more stories on prison and parole:

Like us on Facebook

Listen on Simplecast

[email protected]