Emeritus Prof Christopher May

The prison crisis:

More people are in prison on remand, before the trial: up from 10k in 2020 to 17k now;

Recalls (for breaking probation conditions) are up from 5k in 2014 to 12k now;

The proportion of prisoners in for by violent crime has risen (partly due to more witnesses willing to come forward).

But, if we just use prison to hold criminals we'll never change this... the lack of rehabilitation is the underlying problem (and with other issues, that needs money!)

#prisons
h/t Guardian

Sep 14, 2024 at 7:54amWeb
Show threadChristo. London, EnglandSep 14, 2024
@ChrisMayLA6
I've always thought full prisons are a sign of failure. There will always be a small number of very dangerous folk that cannot be released fully but we have people in prison who should be receiving good mental health care, desperately poor folk and a majority who could be helped with education and counselling and secure housing.
Show threadEmeritus Prof Christopher MaySep 14, 2024

@Christo_459

Yes, I'd agree.... a failure that is compounded but the 'solution' of more prison

Show threadvicarvernon has movedSep 14, 2024
@ChrisMayLA6 @Christo_459 it's a cost of austerity, if you cut back on preventative expenditure, then other costs rise. This is one.
Show threadEmeritus Prof Christopher MaySep 14, 2024

@vicarvernon @Christo_459

Yes, the cutting leading to downstream expansion of cost can be seen across the public sector over the last decade.... its a classic case of false economies

Show threadKim Spence-Jones 🇬🇧😷Sep 15, 2024
@ChrisMayLA6 @vicarvernon @Christo_459 As usual, austerity proves to be eye-wateringly expensive.
Show threadMerry ChristmasSep 14, 2024

@ChrisMayLA6

Tories underfunded and broke the probation service as well.