The Prime Minister's plans for Justice, Law and Order and Public Safety policies in 2011, set out in his speech to Parliament, hold considerable promise, says Kim Workman, Director of Rethinking Crime and Punishment.

"It's a relief to hear a speech which largely avoided the traditional pre-election muscle flexing, and instead focused on better results for the Justice dollar, and greater effectiveness through a mixture of policies to both prevent crime and rehabilitate offenders. It's a welcome change."

"John Key's promise to re-start the 'Drivers of Crime' strategy, and increase investment in early childhood intervention, targeting young offending, minimising alcohol-related harm, diversion of low-level offenders, and support for high risk offenders, has the potential to make a difference over the long term - and that is where we need to see additional investment. We were disappointed at the lack of progress last year. After a major launch in 2009, government agencies resisted parting up with dollars for inter-agency initiatives. It looked as though the steering wheel had fallen off."

"Community based sentences and work programmes deserve closer attention. For example, work programmes in which victim reparation is an integral part of the process, have been very successful - that element is notably absent in New Zealand. John Keys intention to introduce that element into programmes earns a big tick."

"Howard Broad's leadership resulted in a very successful targeted policing programme. The new Commissioner will need to retain the balance between targeted interventions, and the documented dangers of over-policing communities, especially if he is pressured to tip the balance in favour of crime suppression activities, over community crime prevention. The Police have their own demons to address, and if they do that well, public confidence in the Police should be restored."

"There are some shortcomings in the policies. Once again, there is a focus on prison-based drug treatment programmes which reduce the risk of reoffending by around 13%. On the other hand, community based residential treatment for substance abuse has been found to reduce re-offending by between 33% and 43%.

There appears to be no commitment to addressing the serious health issues facing prisoners, especially the critical mental health problems experienced by Maori prisoners. The National Health Committee's report on Prisoner Health has been effectively buried by the government, and no amount of Official Information requests have been able to exhume it."

"Perhaps the greatest challenge for this government is to have the courage to critically evaluate the policies and programmes introduced over the last two years, and abandon or modify them when it becomes clear that they don't work. The 'three strikes' legislation, youth offenders "Fresh Start' programme, intensive supervision, increased institutionalisation of young offenders, and compliance based probation and parole, all fall within that category. They haven't worked well anywhere else, and are unlikely to do so here."

"Overall, the policies hold promise. One of Rethinking Crime and Punishment's goal for 2011 is to get as much evidence-based information on 'what works" into the public arena, so that the public can assess whether or not they are getting value for money, and make informed choices. This policy platform provides plenty of opportunity to do just that."

ENDS

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