Audit no. P/24/083/LRZ
The Prison Service did not ensure appropriate safety to prison officers and employees while at work. After a prison psychologist was killed at a correctional facility in Rzeszów in 2022, some changes were made to the security issue but they were not systemic or long-lasting. Moreover, the Ministry of Justice did not systematically monitor safety in the Prison Service. Problems found during the audit included: insufficient financing of the infrastructure modernisation (over PLN 400 million was missing to meet the reported needs), shortages in staff and protective equipment as well as delegating prison officers to other tasks which reduced safety in detention centres and penitentiaries. Besides, NIK negatively evaluated the condition of the electronic security system. With all these irregularities it needs to be highlighted that the commitment of Prison Service officers makes up for the system drawbacks.
Reasons for taking up the audit
In February 2022, a prisoner from the correctional facility in Rzeszów murdered a Prison Service officer performing her duties. An ad hoc audit in that entity confirmed that the situation was also driven by numerous system gaps. The audit findings and pre-audit analysis implied that the Prison Service struggled with considerable staff shortages. Besides, most penitentiary facilities were located in old buildings that did not meet safety requirements in terms of the infrastructure. Also, internal procedures defining the protection of prison officers against the aggression of prisoners were of general nature and could not guarantee safety. There were also gaps in the equipment and security devices and the electronic security systems did not comply with the requirements set out in the guidelines of the Director General of the Prison Service.
The Minister did not monitor safety in the Prison Service
The Minister of Justice lacked reliable information on safety of the Prison Service officers. The Minister’s only audit concerning this issue was to clarify circumstances of the incident in the correctional facility in Rzeszów in 2022 but its results did not encourage the Minister to conduct more audits. In view of the said circumstances and the Minister’s statutory mandate, NIK considered it an irregularity. NIK stands in a position that the abovementioned incident and the relevant audit results should entail a bigger number of system audits in the Prison Service organisational units.
Changes to safety regulations
In response to the tragic event in Rzeszów, the Minister of Justice prepared a draft Act on the Prison Service, also based on the postulates and proposals of the Central Management of the Prison Service. The government draft of the said Act made up the basis for changes adopted by the law-maker in August 2022.
The Prison Service modernisation programme has been carried out since 2022. It covered, among other things, increasing safety in correctional facilities and detention centres by providing equipment, improving working conditions for the Prison Service officers and civil workers as well as boosting attractiveness of the Prison Service. The initiatives in 2022–2023 helped provide safety to the Prison Service officers and employees while at work. In view of the above and the audit results NIK finds it essential to continue supporting the Prison Service in this form also in the future.
Only in response to the prison officer’s death in Rzeszów, the Director General of the Prison Service issued guidelines in April 2022 to improve safety of prison officers and employees performing their duties. At the end of May 2024, the Director General revoked his guidelines, though, without reasonable justification.
Also, only after the fatal incident in the correctional facility in Rzeszów the Central Management of the Prison Service extended the scope of analyses concerning safety of prison officers and employees. From May 2022 to January 2024, the Central Management gathered data on the implementation of the said guidelines. After that period the data collection was discontinued, although it was clear that the assumptions adopted by the units were not fully implemented.
Numerous assaults on prison officers
The Central Management of the Prison Service, in line with the procedures defined by the Director General, monitored and clarified dangerous incidents and measures taken by subordinate units in that matter. That was mainly about assaults on prison officers. The number of such incidents dropped yearly in 2018–2023 (by 45% in total), however it remained at an alarming level and in 2024 it even went up, despite the fact that the number of prisoners did not change significantly.
No safety plan and unrecognised personnel needs
The Central Management of the Prison Service did not develop any long-term plan to provide the highest safety standards to its officers and employees performing their duties. In particular, the Prison Service units were not equipped with proper electronic security systems. Besides, no full-fledged analyses were made of the condition and actual needs of the Prison Service units in terms of electronic security systems. NIK was also critical about the failure to recognise the Prison Service personnel needs.
Vacancies and staff issues in the Prison Service
NIK points to a continuously high number of vacancies the entire Prison Service. Only in 2022 this number plummeted below 3% of established FTEs (reaching 769 at that time), whereas in the audited period it increased from 898 to 1420 (by about 58%), which corresponded with 3,2% to 6% established FTEs.
In the audited period the percentage of the most experienced prison officers (with job seniority of over 5 years) went down considerably. At the end of July 2021, it was 75% and in June 2024 it was only 63%. According to NIK job retention (in security departments in particular) among the most experienced employees should be of special attention for the Minister of Justice and the Director General of the Prison Service.
Among the reasons for vacancies identified by the Central Management of the Prison Service, NIK highlights the problem with finding persons willing to work in large agglomerations. The HR issues of the Prison Service units, especially in large urban agglomerations (Kraków, Warszawa, Wrocław), were made even worse by numerous vacancies. As a consequence, not all security posts were filled, prison officers performed their duties in two different security posts and employees worked overtime a lot. NIK stands in a position that such situations could impact the safety of correctional facilities and prison officers working there.
Directors of three audited facilities filed applications to the Prison Service district heads for extra FTEs for prison officers. They were taken into account to a minimum extent only.
Low pays remain a big problem in the prison service. Despite a real increase of pays in the audited period, the Prison Service remains the least attractive uniformed service in terms of pay levels.
Delegating Prison Service officers to work for the Ministry
Every year a few hundred qualified Prison Service officers were delegated to protect facilities of the Ministry of Justice and the National Prosecutor’s Office. According to NIK it significantly weakened the formation in performing its duties.
Shortage of funds for investments
Insufficient funds were a significant constraint for the Prison Service in performing its duties. Only in 2023, the Prison Service modernisation Programme helped satisfy financial needs with a surplus of over PLN 81 million. In total, in the audited period, PLN 406 million was missing to meet the reported needs.
Insufficient electronic security and Personal Protective Equipment
Only two audited correctional facilities had documents confirming that the installed electronic security systems met the required standards and technical requirements set out in the guidelines of the Director General of the Prison Service.
In five audited units irregularities were found regarding shortages of the electronic security equipment.
Despite the guidelines of the Director General of the Prison Service, officers and employees having "direct contact with inmates" were not equipped with individual panic buttons in all the audited facilities. According to NIK all persons hired in detention centres and correctional facilities should be equipped with these devices.
It needs to be stressed that in all the audited correctional facilities, numerous irregularities were identified concerning the safety of officers. Hence, a range of post-audit recommendations were made. Nevertheless, the auditees did not raise any objections to the post-audit statements, and the Minister of Justice positively referred to the audit results in his statement on the NIK audit report. In particular, he informed about the audits started in 2025 in the Prison Service units. He also declared that he would take all endeavours to make sure NIK's recommendations were implemented, really improving the safety of officers performing their duties.
Key recommendations
To the Minister of Justice to:
- increase the financing of the Prison Service’s needs;
- improve supervision over the Prison Service;
- support the Director General of the Prison Service in the efforts to strengthen the Prison Service staff.
To the Director General of the Prison Service to:
- introduce a long-term plan to ensure the safety of prison officers and employees while at work, taking into account, in particular, the modernisation of electronic systems;
- take action to strengthen the Prison Service in financial, organisational and personnel terms so as to provide safety to its officers and employees;
- regulate the organisation and equipment of rooms of educators, psychologists and therapists in terms of their safety;
- ensure cyclical reconnaissance in the organisational units of the Prison Service to improve the safety level;
- introduce internal regulations on the obligations of inmates in terms of appropriate behaviour in service rooms in detention centres and correctional facilities.
To the directors of correctional facilities and detention centres to:
- ensure reconnaissance of the Prison Service units to determine an appropriate protection method;
- equip all officers and employees with individual panic buttons;
- develop concepts and assumptions for the project of construction or modernisation of electronic security systems, in line with the principles defined in the Director General’s guidelines;
- carry out maintenance of electronic security systems, in line with the requirements specified by the Director General of the Prison Service;
- develop procedures for handling alarms, warnings of failure, exclusion of parts or the entire system from the operating state, in line with the guidelines of the Director General of the Prison Service.
