The Prison Crisis: the smoking gun!

28 December 2011

The failure of the government to provide credible alternatives to custody is shocking and a large chunk of the blame for the skyrocketing numbers serving prison sentences must be attributed to the Minister of Justice. Anyone with a memory of Ken Clarke in his role as Home Secretary will recall how his laconic style in the early 1990's left that department to flounder and yet the government, two decades on, have given him another ministry to toy around with!

On 23 December prison numbers hit the all-time high of 87,960 prisoners - that is well over twice the number of those serving prison sentences when Ken Clarke was last responsible for Britain’s prisons.

Ken Clarke - Minister of Justice

Part of the problem is that the Ministry of Justice is responsible for the Offender Management Service and that means that the Probation Service must fight with the prison service for its share of the Offender Management Service budget. That never was a fair fight, as with the prison service constantly at melting point any funds available will be diverted toward it and away from community sentencing.

Now with at least 87 prisons grossly overcrowded and with Glyn Travis - spokesman for the Prison Officers Association quoted as saying 'We are coming to a very, very volatile moment. We believe there is a serious risk of rioting...." there is little chance that the government will do anything more than deal with the crisis demands for a short term solution.

What is needed is a strengthened probation service which can instil confidence in sentencers to the point that they feel able to reduce the tariffs and send less people into custody. Sentencers need to know that instead of carrying caseloads of 80, 90 or 100 or more serious offenders, probation officers will be able to effectively manage their community sentenced charges to the point of cessation in offending. That would require the Ministery of Justice to apply some long term-thinking and that is something Ken Clarke and his offender Management minister Crispin Blunt appear incapable of doing.

The August Riots: A Report

4 November 2011

In early August 2011, there were outbreaks of riotous behaviour in London and some of England’s other major cities. The disturbances began in Tottenham in North London on Saturday 6 August following a peaceful protest in response to the police handling of the shooting of Mark Duggan. Over the course of the next few days, similar disturbances occurred in other parts of London and in other cities.

The range and types of incidents that occured during this period are

This study was commissioned by the UK Prime Minister’s Cabinet Office; with the overall aim of to explore the triggers of youth involvement in the August Riots from the perspective of those involved and affected. “Young people were not solely responsible for these events – older people were also involved – but they are the focus of this study because the role played by young people is of particular concern and their perspectives are less likely to
be heard in other ways.”

The core question the authors sought to answer were: 'Why did young people
get involved in the riots?” and to address this, the report describes:

• what occurred in five affected areas and two areas unaffected by rioting
• who was involved in the riots
• why and how young people got involved

Domestic Theft Surges whilst Police Effectiveness Declines 

20 October 2011

The latest crime statistics from the Home Office (Crime in England and Wales Quarterly Update to June 2011) appear to show that the police are less effective than in 2010 and that domestic theft - burglaries etc. are rapidly increasing.

In the year ending June 2011, there were decreases in all the main police recorded crime offence groups except robbery and other theft offences (which increased by 3% and 5% respectively). There was a two per cent rise in the most serious sexual crimes recorded by the police compared with the previous year. This suggests that such offences were, at least in  their recording, prioritised by the police services.

However, although the  number of domestic theft related crimes recorded by the police fell by 3% in the year ending June 2011 compared with a year earlier , the British Crime Survey (BCS) identified that  burglary increased by 10%; Household acquisitive crime increased by 7%; Other household theft 13% and Vehicle-related theft increased by 2%.

During the same period Police recorded domestic crimes increased by 0.1% and domestic burglaries fell by 3%!

An obvious explanation for the current discrepancy between the police recorded crime and the BCS is that that street crimes were, at least in  their recording, prioritised by the police services. Just as important is the apparent and significant change in the pattern of offending and the apparent lack of police response to that change. In the long run this will be the bigger story and will link to an understanding of the current economic crisis and its impact on crime.

Limiting Access to the Police: a question of police service priorities versus crime victims needs

7 October 2011

Over the past decade there has been a systematic decline in public’s direct access to the counter service offered by the police. Although busy police stations have often been overwhelmed by members of the public, there has nevertheless been a policy to not effectively staff and manage busy counters and police counter closure. For all the trumpeting of victim friendly policing, the reality is that the need for victims to have direct and personal access to the police are not supported by the majority of police services . The blue lamp of policing stations has been flickering out – in these circumstances emergency services or no services seem

Profiting from Punishment: Part 2 When Martin Narey, the first Commissioner for Correctional Services in England and Wales, got his telephone call from Group 4 Security (aka G4S), was he surprised? Similarly, when Martin's very good friend and successor in 'Correctional Services' , Phil Wheatley got his G4S invitation or Andrew Bridges - the former Chief Inspector of Probation got his call from Interserve were either of them caught on the hop? Were these phone calls out of the blue or were they the consequence of 'round table discussions'. You know the sort of thing, the company is concerned that British industry is flatlining and starts looking for further markets to exploit, considers its 'correctional division', and then calls in a small group of knowledgeable professionals to do a gap analysis - day rates plus of course. Well however, G4S and Interserve arrived at their offers there can be little doubt that the price they paid was high and that they concluded that the price was worth it. The Observer picked this story up and quoted Shaun Williamson a spokesperson for the Prison Governors Association. "We don't believe we should be making money out of incarcerating individuals'. At the risk of being controversial, that's not at issue. The debate about the privatisation of prisons - happened a decade ago and - in case anyone forgot - the privateers won. The recruitment of Narey, Bridges and Wheatley might be about increasing private sector involvement in imprisonment but, much more likely, it is about 'Profiting from Punishment: Part 2' that is the outsourcing of the other wing of the correctional services, the Probation Service.

Exploring public confidence in the police and local councils in tackling crime and anti-social behaviour

This Home Office Research Unit report provides findings from discussion groups held with local residents across England and Wales on the reasons underpinning responses to a question in the British Crime Survey (BCS) that measures public confidence in the police and local council to tackle crime and anti-social behaviour (ASB). Eighteen groups took place between 18 January and 3 February 2010.

Experimental statistics on victimisation of children from the British Crime Survey

One of the key criticisms of the British Crime Survey has been that the this comprehensive review of crime experiences in England and Wales only considered adult victimisation. This report makes available for the first time estimates of victimisation from the extension of
the British Crime Survey (BCS) to children aged 10 to 15 years resident in households in
England and Wales.

Link to Home Office Crime Prevention Toolkits (archived)

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