Criminal punishment systems internationally and in Aotearoa New Zealand are captivated by risk frameworks. In recent decades, risk frameworks were introduced to manage increasing incarceration rates under the veneer of objectivity. However, the prioritisation of identifying ‘risk’ and ‘risky subjects’ reinforces the racial inequalities which are already present in the system, shown in high incarceration rates of Māori. This chapter will problematise risk frameworks, including criminogenic risk tools, throughout the police, prison system, and probation in Aotearoa New Zealand. It is argued that these frameworks largely ignore the historical processes and neo-colonial policies that have created social inequalities, which continue to marginalise Indigenous and ethnic minority communities. These risk frameworks attribute the social problems and vulnerabilities of society to the individual, while simultaneously amplifying our reliance on the criminal punishment system. The extension of state control is legitimised through risk-dominated thinking, that entrenches containment and seclusion. Concerningly, risk ideologies and frameworks result in more people captured within the punishment system, and do not transcend high incarceration rates for ethnic minorities.