The reclassification of prisoners, a diabolical move by Labour to adjust their targets on rehabilitation, has resulted in a number of disasters from riots to those convicted of serious offences casually walking out.
Following the riots in May the management of prisons has reduced to such a degree that even the treatment of that was "political" (as in answered no questions and made no sense).
In spite of Colin Moses, of the Prison Officers' Association, stating in May;
"We have seen a rise in violence, bullying and intimidation, all because people who do not appear suitable for category C prisons are being put through too early."
the Prison Service insisted that prisoners were not "wrongly downgraded" and this is true. By new prison classifications, they are not wrongly downgraded. This stinks of 'but it was within the rules' ideals of politicians and identifies how some people cannot see the wood for the trees. Of course, Prisons Minister David Hanlon rejects claims that the downgrading is incorrect in true political style.
I can not be the only person to spot the illogical and irrational nature of this matter. Of course it is dangerous to put murderers in open prisons less than a third into their sentence. Quite simply; the reclassification of prisoners has allowed a concatenation of events that has resulted in the most recent escape of murderers on life sentences walking out of an open prison.
The latest in this series of aberrations seems to underline the need for policy review. It is situations like this that allow right wing fascist parties to steal middle class votes when people are fearful of crime and fearful that criminals are not being punished.
There is a reason crimes are broken into summary, triable-either-way and serious. The government needs to act accordingly before we descend into the anarchy that is seen in American prisons where gang violence and drug smuggling are common place. There must be a better way to categorise prisoners and rehabilitate them. Making the security more lax on serious offenders is not only irresponsible but downright dangerous.
As a final point, why did they walk out on Sunday 7 June and it was only reported today? Hazel Blear's whinging yesterday was a waste of news space in itself yesterday, but apparently far more news worthy?
Showing posts with label Prison. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Prison. Show all posts
13 Jun 2009
12 Apr 2009
Idle hands leads to lots of ranting.
What a surprise. The BBC fails to address core issues again
"POA national chairman Colin Moses added: "We have been warning of this type of disturbance for many months, but no one wants to listen."
There is little concern for prisoners in this country, we have too many right wing opinions and too few experiences of true rehabilitation to recognise it's worth. It has been widely reported for years that the prison population is rising. (How much of this is due to extent of criminalisation this government perpetuates?).
"He said a lack of investment had led to fewer specialist staff and a failure to address the issue could lead to HMP Ashwell becoming the "first of many disturbances of 2009".
The BBC fails to address the core issue, that the reclassification of prisoners has led to people going into cat C prisons only 1 year to 18 months into a mandatory offense. Yet they then go on to say:
"However, a Prison Service (PS) spokeswoman insisted it was "simply untrue" Ashwell was either holding Category B prisoners or overcrowded."
There is NOTHING in the article prior to this about the categories of prisoners. Yet they seem to assume this is a forgone conclusion of their staccato sentences and IMPACT statements.
"there is not overcrowding"
Bollocks. In short. The population is currently 83,058. This increased by a third in a decade. The lists of publications on penal reform nd overcrowding are limitless on the Internet. It is a well publicised and documented fact we have more prisoners than any other country in Europe, not to mention re offence rates etc etc.
(as a little digression, the prison population costs our government £3,156,204 a year at an average of £38,000 per prisoner. This is more than £10K more than the average wage of the British person. What evidence is there to suggest this is a good investment?)
and assures me that there are not any Category B prisoners, they are all Category C," she said.
To discuss in more detail, this was not the point POA national chairman Colin Moses was making. His point was the excessive bureaucracy of the prison service (as with all civil services) has been used to demote categories of prisoners whom, five years ago, would have been cat B prisoners. This is therefore changing the nature of the inmates in the prisons as they are now interacting with those who have committed more severe offences.
There is also a failure to analyse or research this situation at all. Better not to scare people huh? Let them go on with their Easter weekends and ignore the fact that at least a third, and potentially 70-80% of people in prison are serious drug users and serious offenders. That the Penal System fails to separate people with severe drug problems, mental health or psychotic problems, much less treat them effectively. We are spending £38k a person a year to give them a free b&b, introduce them to more contacts and then pat them on the back and give them a council house.
What we are seeing is the potential for the development of a much nastier and organised gang culture in British Prisons unless SOMETHING is done. And that something is not giving prisoners the vote.
People need to wise up to the fact prisoners are human beings, that the American way of locking them up and throwing away the key is not the way forward. Behaviour is a learned response. We need more investment in rehabilitation and teaching.
"POA national chairman Colin Moses added: "We have been warning of this type of disturbance for many months, but no one wants to listen."
There is little concern for prisoners in this country, we have too many right wing opinions and too few experiences of true rehabilitation to recognise it's worth. It has been widely reported for years that the prison population is rising. (How much of this is due to extent of criminalisation this government perpetuates?).
"He said a lack of investment had led to fewer specialist staff and a failure to address the issue could lead to HMP Ashwell becoming the "first of many disturbances of 2009".
The BBC fails to address the core issue, that the reclassification of prisoners has led to people going into cat C prisons only 1 year to 18 months into a mandatory offense. Yet they then go on to say:
"However, a Prison Service (PS) spokeswoman insisted it was "simply untrue" Ashwell was either holding Category B prisoners or overcrowded."
There is NOTHING in the article prior to this about the categories of prisoners. Yet they seem to assume this is a forgone conclusion of their staccato sentences and IMPACT statements.
"there is not overcrowding"
Bollocks. In short. The population is currently 83,058. This increased by a third in a decade. The lists of publications on penal reform nd overcrowding are limitless on the Internet. It is a well publicised and documented fact we have more prisoners than any other country in Europe, not to mention re offence rates etc etc.
(as a little digression, the prison population costs our government £3,156,204 a year at an average of £38,000 per prisoner. This is more than £10K more than the average wage of the British person. What evidence is there to suggest this is a good investment?)
and assures me that there are not any Category B prisoners, they are all Category C," she said.
To discuss in more detail, this was not the point POA national chairman Colin Moses was making. His point was the excessive bureaucracy of the prison service (as with all civil services) has been used to demote categories of prisoners whom, five years ago, would have been cat B prisoners. This is therefore changing the nature of the inmates in the prisons as they are now interacting with those who have committed more severe offences.
There is also a failure to analyse or research this situation at all. Better not to scare people huh? Let them go on with their Easter weekends and ignore the fact that at least a third, and potentially 70-80% of people in prison are serious drug users and serious offenders. That the Penal System fails to separate people with severe drug problems, mental health or psychotic problems, much less treat them effectively. We are spending £38k a person a year to give them a free b&b, introduce them to more contacts and then pat them on the back and give them a council house.
What we are seeing is the potential for the development of a much nastier and organised gang culture in British Prisons unless SOMETHING is done. And that something is not giving prisoners the vote.
People need to wise up to the fact prisoners are human beings, that the American way of locking them up and throwing away the key is not the way forward. Behaviour is a learned response. We need more investment in rehabilitation and teaching.
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