The Department of Communities and Justice (DCJ) has launched a podcast series, taking listeners on a journey into what it’s like to work inside the State’s prisons and parole offices.
DCJ said Behind the Walls was a six-part series which featured first-hand accounts from 30 correctional officers about what really happened behind bars, from riots to contraband detection and stories of rehabilitation.
Crime author and former journalist, Michael Duffy said he spent six months recording the series at 11 correctional centres and four Community Corrections offices.
“Like many people, I thought prison was just about locks and security,” Mr Duffy said.
“For this podcast, I’ve gone to talk with real prison officers and discovered that their jobs – and they themselves – are about much more than that,” he said.
Featured on the first episode of the DCJ podcast, Officer with Corrective Services NSW (CSNSW), Sarah Smith said most people didn’t get to hear much about the State’s prisons unless a violent incident had occurred.
“You don’t hear about the inmate who got out two years ago, who has been in-and-out of jail his whole life and who hasn’t come back into custody because he has been rehabilitated,” Ms Smith said.
The DCJ said the first episode of the podcast, The Job, was now available and further episodes would be released every Thursday.
The first episode of DCJ’s Behind the Walls podcast can be accessed at this PS News link.
