The cavernous receiving area at Mt Eden Prison is imposing. The clang of a heavy steel roller door bounces off the concrete walls, and uniformed guards stand ready to face whatever comes their way.

This is a place of numbers, where even a person becomes a number.

The condemned arriving in a convoy of vans are stripped of freedom, and sent to wait for the justice system to decide their fate. Remanded in custody at Mt Eden equals a life on hold.

Among the first things any arriving inmate will see is black pen scrawled on a whiteboard.

Today, most prominent, is a number: 1016.

It’s a headcount, known in the system as the prison muster. The 17 other prisons around the country will each have their own numbers. Together they’re added up to give the national prison muster.

To say that number has been growing is an understatement. In fact, in the past three weeks that sum has surpassed 10,000 for the first time. It's the grimmest of milestones.