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Corrections went back to old school door knocking when Cyclone Gabrielle took power out through the Hawke’s Bay-Gisborne regions.

Corrections national commissioner Leigh Marsh told the Herald that in the aftermath of the cyclone - and the inability to electronically monitor people with ankle bracelets who were on bail or home detention - officers jumped into their vehicles to personally check people had not taken this as an opportunity to high-tail it to freedom.

Marsh said as at 4pm February 16, there were 203 people who were not being electronically monitored in Hawke’s Bay and Gisborne region.

In the wash-up, Corrections discovered not all of those 203 had kept to their strict bail or home detention conditions.

“We identified five people on community sentences and two people subject to electronically monitored bail who were non-compliant during this time,” Marsh said.

Corrections national commissioner Leigh Marsh. Photo / Supplied

“We have taken immediate action to hold people to account. Three of the five people on community sentences are now in prison. Breaches for the two people subject to electronically monitored bail are currently before the courts.”

Marsh said an arrest warrant has also been issued for a woman who used the floods as an opportunity for freedom.

“One woman subject to home detention absconded prior to Cyclone Gabrielle, and her whereabouts remains unknown. A warrant to arrest has been issued.”

Marsh said public safety was paramount during the floods, including those on electronic bail and or home detention and his Corrections staff.

“Public safety remained our absolute priority as we managed the immediate effects of Cyclone Gabrielle.

“Our staff did, and continue to do, an excellent job alongside local Police to ensure the continued monitoring of offenders during this unprecedented weather event.

“Like everyone, we were impacted by the widespread cellular communications outages in the immediate aftermath of Cyclone Gabrielle.

Cyclone Gabrielle flooding in Napier on February 14, 2023. Photo / File

“Electronic monitoring systems are reliant on cellular coverage, and we immediately activated our response plans as soon as cell networks started to be impacted. This meant activating a manual monitoring process. This involves manually checking compliance with conditions.”

Curfew conditions were also manually checked by Corrections staff.

 “For example, to monitor a curfew condition requiring a person to be at a certain address at certain times, we send people to the address to visually check they are present.

“Areas impacted by the severe weather had a number of road closures and hazards that made this job challenging for our electronic monitoring and frontline community staff, and I would like to acknowledge the incredible work they did to check in on offenders and keep everyone safe.”

Two people on the East Coast who were electronically monitored have been checked but because power is not fully restored to that area, are not being monitored.

“We have not been able to restore their connections because of ongoing road closures preventing access to and from their properties and power outages in their areas. However, both are in regular contact with their Probation Officer,” Marsh said.

“We have robust plans in place to ensure we can continue to monitor offenders during a range of different situations, including power and communications outages caused by weather events. This includes our staff working extremely closely with local Police to keep our communities safe during events like this.”