tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17436418.post7486670539378169252..comments2008-02-18T14:13:37.385+11:00Comments on Publik: NSW jailing more for common offences: reportPublikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06673522314506088757noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17436418.post-22552414618067760902008-02-06T14:59:00.000+11:002008-02-06T14:59:00.000+11:00The last decade has seen a general toughening of l...The last decade has seen a general toughening of law and order policy.<BR/><BR/>The manifestation of this is a growing prison population. The Australian Bureau of Statistics says that between 1997 and 2007 the rate of imprisonment in Australia rose by 23 per cent. There are now more than 24,000 people behind bars.<BR/><BR/>Almost a quarter of those held in prison are indigenous, although indigenous Australians make up less than 3 per cent of the total population.<BR/><BR/>The growth in imprisonment has not been the result of higher crime rates. Surprising as it may seem, for most of the past 10 years, most categories of crime in Australia have been either stable or falling. Imprisonment rates have risen, despite falling crime rates, because more of those charged with criminal offences are being refused bail and more of those convicted of criminal offences are receiving a prison sentence.<BR/><BR/>Tougher Bail Policies<BR/><BR/>Tougher bail policies fail because prisons cause crime. To add to that it's expensive. It costs $240 a day to keep someone in prison.<BR/><BR/>A growing proportion of people charged with criminal offences are being held on remand while awaiting trial. Over the past 10 years the proportion of the Australian prison population on remand has risen from 13 per cent to 22 per cent.<BR/><BR/>The disturbing thing about the growth in remand is that a large percentage of those refused bail end up having the charges against them dismissed. Many of those who are convicted, on the other hand, receive a non-custodial sanction.<BR/><BR/>In NSW more than 12 per cent of those refused bail are acquitted or have all charges against them dismissed. More than one in three of those refused bail receive a non-custodial sentence.<BR/><BR/>Bankruptcy<BR/><BR/>Like most things that cost a lot of money, prison brings bankruptcy.<BR/><BR/>Imprisoning serious or prolific offenders can cause more crime especially if those offenders are just going to be warehoused and mistreated - as they are if prisons are overcrowded. And the wider we cast the net of imprisonment, the more it costs the community.<BR/><BR/>Nearly all those 24,000 prisoners will sooner or later have to be released. If we don't do anything to help them back into the community, many will go straight back into crime.<BR/><BR/>In NSW, 60 per cent of those released from prison will be convicted of a further offence within two years.<BR/><BR/>Diversionary Measures<BR/><BR/>The fact is we cannot rely on imprisonment because prisons cause crime and if we want to get value for our dollar we'd do much better preventing crime. Nor can we rely solely on measures that do nothing more than subject offenders in the community to greater surveillance. But we can rely more often than not on measures that divert people from prison into mentoring, community service orders, circle sentencing, restorative justice, crime prevention and much, much more... <BR/><BR/>Overseas research shows that intensive supervision of offenders on its own just causes more crime.<BR/><BR/>Intensive supervision doesn't work but measures that tackle the underlying causes of offending (for example, drug and alcohol dependence, poor social skills, unemployment). Programs that do this can reduce the rate of reoffending by as much as 20 per cent.<BR/><BR/>Crime Prevention<BR/><BR/>Crime prevention however can reduce the rate of potential offending by as much as 5 per cent. So spending money on crime prevention can only be seen as enlightenment. <BR/><BR/>Spending money on rehabilitation programs and services can easily be lampooned as being kind to criminals. In truth though it's nothing more or less than commonsense. <BR/><BR/>The punishment is the crime for a world without violence.Publikhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06673522314506088757noreply@blogger.com