The country's top security prison, housing our most hardened criminals, is in lockdown after a vicious gang war erupted leaving four inmates stabbed.
One prisoner is in hospital in a serious condition.
Police say they have recovered a number of weapons from the scene. Inspector Gary Davey says he can't say what the weapons are but they are closing in on the inmates responsible.
He says they have identified a number of suspects and it's a
matter of determining the level of evidence they have against each
of them.
Guards at Auckland Prison at Paremoremo now fear for their lives
and their spokesman says it's a dangerous situation with gangs
running the prison.
The latest violence has prompted Corrections Association spokesperson Bevan Hanlon to ask for the safety of prison officers to be made a priority.
"If you think you've got gang problems on the outside you don't want to come to prison. Gangs run prisons...if we didn't have gangs we wouldn't have prisoners, it's as simple as that really," says Hanlon.
Most of the 240-odd inmates at Paremoremo are thought to have gang affiliations and that means explosive situations are never far away - situations that can put prison officers' lives at risk
Hanlon says they are prepared to walk off the job unless they are given the right to lock the centre down and search inmates for weapons. He has met with management and says a range of new procedures are going to be rolled out.
Currently 12 prisoners are allowed out for every one guard but Hanlon says that is unacceptable.
"These are the prisoners that can't be controlled in other prisons. We should be dealing to them on a one to one or three basis really," says Hanlon.
Hanlon, showing a weapon made from an aluminium window surround, says deadly weapons can be fashioned out of anything.
An improvised weapon was used on Wednesday night that left four inmates with stab wounds.
"We've had people stabbed with chop bones, toothbrushes, razors - you name it they stab you with it," Hanlon says.
Defence lawyer Chris Comeskey represents several inmates and says guards are totally within their rights to be cracking the whip but the Corrections Minister has played down the latest incident.
"This was gang member on gang member, no prison officer was involved," Phil Goff says.
And the department is defending its position.
"We've reinforced with the staff representatives the protocols that were in place to keep them safe," Auckland Corrections manager Warren Cummins says.
The Corrections Department says police are investigating the incident and the prison will be conducting a full review. It says despite an increasing inmate population, serious prisoner-on-prisoner assaults have reduced.
The department cites figures showing a 69% decrease in serious attacks last year compared to a decade ago.
But the union says a safety review is two years overdue and prison officers need the same protection that other people in a frontline job are entitled to.
"We're talking about waist restraints, we're talking about gas, batons, pepper spray, tasers - whatever is used around other places," says Hanlon.
"Let's see what's safe, let's see what makes sense and let's take control of our prisons back. Clearly people can see we don't have control when the prisoners don't want us to."
