Major Report Finding- Community Sentences Don’t have to be a Soft Option

A major report released today , “Community or Custody – Which Works Best” shows that community sentences can be cheaper, tougher and more effective than prison for persistent, low-level offenders. The UK report was commissioned because prison numbers had risen, and people who 12 years ago would have served non-custodial sentences, were being locked up. 65% of prisoners were serving less than 12 months. If the trend continued, the taxpayer cost was likely to be £3 billion for extra prison beds.

Facing a backdrop of rising criminal justice costs, spiralling reoffending rates and a change of government, Make Justice Work commissioned Peter Oborne, broadcaster and Chief Political Commentator at the Daily Telegraph, to lead a prestigious panel of independent experts in assessing whether rigorous community sentences can be more effective than short prison terms in stopping persistent, low-level offending.

Osborne commented that one of the common public perceptions was that prison at least gave the public respite from prolific low-level offenders. “Nobody is arguing that criminals should not go to prison, or that some of the worst offenders should not be locked up for many years. But consulting opinion pollsters is surely one of the worst imaginable methods of devising a criminal justice policy.”

In contrast to prisons, community programmes such as Intensive Alternative to Prisons produced a reoffending rate of 10%, compared with the prisoner recidivism rate of 59% after two years.

Kim Workman of Rethinking Crime and Punishment, said the situation is worse in New Zealand. 70% of all prisoners will be released within the next seven months. Because they are so short term, the do not get any rehabilitation. Prisoner recidivism rates are higher than in the UK; 61% for non-Maori and 68% for Maori. The UK imprisonment rate is 153 per 100,000, much lower than New Zealand’s 192 per 100,000.

“The current design of community based sentences in New Zealand need a comprehensive review. Victims must be confident that their needs are addressed through community sentences, there must be more personal accountability including payment of reparation to the victim, and the sentence must more directly address the causes of offending.

Go to: http://makejusticework.org.uk/blog/post/12092011-national-enquiry-launch-final-report

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