Balance prison with programs to reduce crime
Costly increase in jail population shows need for prevention, says Ray Metcalfe
ACCORDING
to the Australian Productivity Report on Government Services 2018, Tasmania’s prison population has increased by 23 per cent since July, 2014. This is in stark contrast to jurisdictions such as Texas, the Netherlands and Sweden, where governments are realising locking up more people for longer periods of time, does not lead to positive economic and social outcomes. These places are closing prisons, not building new ones.
Tasmania’s prison occupancy reached 89 per cent in June. The imprisonment rate has increased from 116.7 per 100,000 adults since July 2014, to 141.9 in 2017.1
There is no doubt that building a Northern prison and new remand centre will increase prison capacity, reduce the risk of assault made worse by overcrowding and improve family connections, but they will cost the taxpayer $340 million to construct, and operating will cost an estimated $29 million a year. Locking up people costs Tasmanians $296 a day, per prisoner.
The new prisons would probably reach capacity within 10 years, if other measures are not implemented to reduce crime.
The Tasmanian Liberals’ Plan implies that investing in prison infrastructure will lead to a significant lowering of the crime rate, yet this link is not substantiated. The plan focuses on detection and containment but lacks mention of reintegration initiatives that could lead to crime reduction.
The adult crime rate has been increasing since July 2013 and rose 9 per cent in the year ended June 2017. In comparison, Tasmania’s youth crime rate dropped 55 per cent in the seven years to 2016. The proportion of adults who return to Corrective Services within two years of release has risen to 44.3 per cent.
The Liberals’ plan is an admission of failure to reduce adult crime. The plan fails to provide for substantial funding of the strategic initiatives agreed between the Department of Justice and community advisers.
The solution to reducing crime and re-offending is not achieved by increasing prison capacity and providing rehabilitation. We need to invest in programs that help people change their lives and give them hope.
The evidence continues to demonstrate that locking up people for the first time rather than keeping them in the community leads to a much higher probability of re-offending. Keeping offenders in the community and addressing the causes of behaviour is not a soft option, it is tougher than locking them up and providing little or no help to change behaviour. People life skills development, mentoring, counselling, accommodation, post-release support, employment, and education.
It was demonstrated several years ago that providing accommodation and support for ex-offenders reduces re-offending significantly. Yet government chose not to fund such programs and made it impossible for most people to obtain accommodation in the crucial post-release period. Stable accommodation is one of the most important contributors to reduction in offending, yet most people continue to experience homelessness upon release.
Crime reduction requires changes to whole-of-government policy and rehabilitation and reintegration programs. Policies are needed that can demonstrate changed behaviour, are accountable, coordinated, and targeted.
There are dangerous people imprisoned in Tasmania, they represent only a small proportion of prisoners, and most of them will eventually return to the community. Some will commit a more serious offence and return to prison to serve a longer sentence. What does government plan to do to keep the community safe when they are released from maximum security?
About half our prisoners are serving six months or less. Some jurisdictions do not imprison these people, instead they remain in the community and must attend rehabilitation and reintegration programs. Adopting this approach could free up 300 beds, fund reintegration programs, reduce crime and eliminate the need for a Northern prison.
It is time to get tough on the causes of crime and balance the funding of prisons with investing in a justice framework that will lead to a reduction in crime and changed lives. If it doesn’t, the social and economic costs of crime will continue to rise. Ray Metcalfe has been supporting prisoners and ex-offenders on a voluntary basis since 2002.