Do we need more prisons?

Question

Currently there is enough places in prisons and police cells to hold a total of about one eight of one percent of the population.

Does it seem right that only 1 out of about 800 people belong in jail?

Answer 1

If people offend, and they deserve jail time, then yes, build more jails.

Answer 2

No it is not right! If the government would start building and funding more schools and educational intitutions and resources the world would be more educated and have more resources to a better way of life. Most crimes are from people that are affected by poverty! They struggle to pay rent, raise kids and provide for there families, but how can they succeed when they have little or no education, minimum wage job(s). There only options are stealing,selling drugs(that the government allows to enter the U.S) or other illegal things to make ends meet. This is how the richer gets richer and the poor gets poorer.Drugs is what makes the world go round! They bring drugs over here drop them in the "hoods" or the poor societies and this is what keeps police officers, correctional officers, wardins, court officials, etc. with a good paying job!So they have the money to keep building more jails and prisons and police stations to hold these so called "criminals"!

Answer 3

Since joining the EU we have rubber stamped through our Parliament over 100,000 new laws. Our own government has introduced lots of new legislation. Most people pay their fines but a proportion don't so they have to receive extra punishments. Eventually for a string of minor offences some will end up in jail.
These include fines from speed cameras, parents sent to prison due to truant school children etc.
We have also closed all the prison ships, and many mental hospitals and other specialist units putting all types of offender in one area. The government says it has provided 20,000 new places,true, but not 20,000 extra places as in addition to the above a large part of the prison estate is in poor repair. Where the government is especially failing is in rehabilitation programmes, ironically these cost far more upfront than simply locking people up and forgetting about them.
As most of us would find such things unacceptable for a variety of reasons. We seek other alternatives. I do not know the number of offenders currently on various license or other schemes within the community.

So we need more prison spaces to make up the losses and to cope with a whole load of new criminals created often by new laws needed due to changes in our lifestyle.
An example is the number of arrests throuhout the week for offences committed whilst under the influence of alchohol. This increase is soley due to a deliberate relaxation of the licensing laws. Restore the balance and the number of offences will fall, releasing the police to police other issues.

Answer 4

I don't think so, if prisons were made like prison should be and not like Butlins holiday camps, then perhaps these low life would not want to return. The cost to us all when these people go back time after time is a disgrace. If it was a bit like in the Victorian times, they wouldn't want to go back so often. We live in a country that is full of drugs and graffiti is the norm, with no respect for others, and why? Because today teachers aren't even allowed to tell kids off, in the 50's school was hard and you did what you were told, if not you would get whacked, I know from experience.

Stop a few of these asylum seekers coming in, I understand they take up about 10% of the spaces, and today I hear on the radio that we are going to have to fork out to compensate a load of them if they were under 18. Makes me bloody sick

Answer 5

You may be surprised on the reasons WHY people are in prison.
There are people in prison who violated probation because they fought back from someone in self defense, or got pulled over by the police for a taillight being out. These are probation violations...not even lawbreaking rules. in NH there are 48% of inmates in prison for probation violations.

Some people are in prison because they beat up a guy who molested a child or drove without a license. These people are sentenced for 2 years or more sometimes. Some people are in prison because they cannot afford health insurance or drug rehabilitation and are sentence to prison because of 1st time drug offense. Instead of locking people up, how about if we look to identify the problem and work for a solution to fix the issue.

Many people in prison want to get out and straighten out their lives and be law abiding productive members of society again, and many are good people who made bad mistakes. One of the areas people over-look is prison's transitional and vocational programs.

If they changed the way they currently manage these programs and beefed them up, people would less likely go BACK to the way they were because they now have new independent living skills to work with to be able to live a life.

But we do need laws and consequences if people break the laws. However, I feel they should try to match the punishment to fit the crime.

Answer 6

No, we don't need more prison. In fact we need to clean the ones we've got out. What the leaders of this great nation of ours should be looking at is cleaning them out. I'm not saying let the hardened prisoners like rapist, murders, pedophiles out, but those of lesser crimes. With the stipulation that they must serve a four year tour of duty in the military. And once this is completed they are given there freedom providing they can be successful and turn their lifes around 360 degrees during this time. This would accomplish a few thing 's one clean out the prison system and two give the leaders of our country the bodies needed to do the build up they want to complete this two front war there trying to fight And spare the good law abiding young men and women.

Answer 7

No more prisons but shove them all on a few isolated islands in the Outer Hebrides with a tent and shovel and as much drugs as they can use. What we should not be doing is giving them single cells 3 proper meals in heated prisons with fully equiped gyms tvs and dvd, they are there for a purpose they have commited crimes, what about our poor old folk who have contributed all their lives and fought wars for us, what do they get? Damp flats without heating and maybe a couple of proper meals a week,, it's a bloody disgrace.

Answer 8

How about what Mexico suggested. they would build new prisons and keep all the inmates we wanted to send them for 50cents a day. But they would have to serve full terms. If they got 15 to 25 they would do 15yrs straight no early parole. This would also give us a place to send all of the illegal aliens that come to our country and break our laws.

Are you saying that the jails are full of innocent people??

Answer 9

every body knows ,whats right and whats wrong,the law is the law,its there to protect the innocent,if u are going to commit crime ,then do the time,but don't moan about it ,there's lots of people, that have being brought up in poverty, but don't commit crime, but just try and make there life better, that's what life is all about. but going back to your question there are enough prisons,but prison should feel like prison,then maybe not so many people would want to go back.

Answer 10

Whilst this figure may be right for a continuous jail population, it seems to exclude those about to be banged up and those about to be released, so the figure may really be 1 in 750 and this could require a sizeable increase in provision of avilable cell space.

Answer 11

In my opinion we ought to look at the people who we are sending to prison, Elderly for Council Tax non-payment, those for non-payment of fines or any petty crime that could be dealt with effectively by 'tagging' or 'community service' 'selected curfew'.

Lets deport all foreigners who take up space in our prisons(except those who would be tortured or executed in their own country) their own countries can imprison them. What we really need is some realistic and effective leadership from those who govern the land!