But of the 85,000 people in prison, who really needs to be there? We should lock up those we are afraid of, not who we are mad at. We lock up too many people for ever-longer periods and as they deteriorate they either fail the tests of the Parole Board for release or are quickly recalled to prison when they return to the chaos they left behind. The system is crying out for more funding, some of which has been forthcoming, and yet the signs are that it will be poorly targeted: Titan jails in the middle of nowhere rather than resettlement prisons in communities 20,000 police officers but no youth workers. We have tried to get a criminal Justice System on the cheap and it has failed. The establishment of a Ministry of Justice under New Labour was a logical step but it failed because of poor leadership and, latterly swingeing financial cuts on everything from legal aid to prison officers. Former Secretary of State for Justice, Chris Grayling gets some well-deserved blame for the chaos but the problems have run deeper for over a decade. There is good work and there are dedicated professionals in our jails but we are asking the impossible of them in the current set-up. If we measured the crime rates inside prisons, we would surely categorise them as crime hotspots in their own right. Serious organised crime is seriously well organised behind prison walls and "imprisonment as a means of incapacitation" has become a myth perpetuated by politicians. Our prison and probation services have sadly become chaotic institutions which succeed only in making people worse.ĭuring their incarcerations, prisoners acquire drug habits, experience radicalisation and deteriorating mental health. These essential institutions are characterised by poor care, ineffective treatment and financial waste
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