Prisoners to be chipped like Dawgs

Khawaga " - not a legendary physicist."
Posts: 1079 Joined: 07-08-06 Location: London, Ontario
Submitted by Khawaga on 13 January, 2008 - 10:49.
Quote:
Ministers are planning to implant "machine-readable" microchips under the skin of thousands of offenders as part of an expansion of the electronic tagging scheme that would create more space in British jails.

because

Quote:
The Government has been forced to review sentencing policy amid serious overcrowding in the nation's jails, after the prison population soared from 60,000 in 1997 to 80,000 today. The crisis meant the number of prisoners held in police cells rose 13-fold last year, with police stations housing offenders more than 60,000 times in 2007, up from 4,617 the previous year. The UK has the highest prison population per capita in western Europe, and the Government is planning for an extra 20,000 places at a cost of £3.8bn – including three gigantic new "superjails" – in the next six years.

Does anyone know why the prison population has increased?


Link.

Bobby
Posts: 651 Joined: 22-09-05
14 January, 2008 - 18:47

rising crime i guess one of the main reasons is related to the increase in the gap between the rich and poor over the last 20 years. In the north our local assembly plan to build a new super £200m prison in Limavady to accomodate the rising prison population not to mention the recent huge job losses in the region which was one of the main reasons given. Also, a recent report claimed that 58% of people inside at any time is for fine related offences.

j.rogue "Not as good as cops."
Posts: 1446 Joined: 08-04-07 Location: Not Texas
14 January, 2008 - 18:55

I am unfamiliar with the prison situation across the pond, but here in the states, a rise in the prison population doesn't necessarily mean a rise in crime. New laws may mean harsher sentences; with a high recidivism rate, longer sentences mean a higher incarceration rate. If more prisons are being built in the country, then they are going to be filled one way or another.

jef costello "Beautiful, just like Nuremburg"
Posts: 9933 Joined: 09-02-06 Location: razorblade of apathy, shave me with your irony
14 January, 2008 - 19:10

Didn't prison officers unions donate money to people defending the three strikes and you're out rule?

Bobby
Posts: 651 Joined: 22-09-05
14 January, 2008 - 19:14

fair enough j rogue. probably jef,

Catch 22
Posts: 494 Joined: 01-04-06
15 January, 2008 - 01:44

Yeah in the states crime has gone down to very low levels. Meanwhile harsher sentences, in particular mandatory minimum drug sentences, have led to a massive increase in the prison population. Prison's are a big business and jailing non-violent offenders is a good way to get them full.

Randy ""Spreading the Gospel of Sausage Gravy.""
Posts: 471 Joined: 31-01-07 Location: East By-God Kentucky, USA
15 January, 2008 - 02:19

Has anyone ever studied whether there is a correlation between unemployment and harsh laws/prison building binges on the one hand, vs. periods of high employment coupled with politicians (re)discovering the prison overcrowding issue, and looking to early releases as a solution? I have never seen any data, but it always sounded likely to me that there was something of a correlation (though likely there are other, mitigating factors such as antidrug hysterias from the right, or upsurges of genuine concern for prisoners from the left).

welshboy "...a stain upon the heroic history of anarchism."
Posts: 369 Joined: 11-05-06 Location: Weegie Land
18 January, 2008 - 10:34

I heard something on radio 4 a while back about how the crime rate in the UK started declining rapidly in the early nineties. However a whole host of new legislation soon solved that. After all if the crime rates are dropping what are the various flavours of politicians going to be tough on the causes of?