How Jails Steal State's Resources
Sun Herald
Sunday December 7, 2008
NSW is at a crossroads in the way it deals with criminals. Inmate numbers have reached 10,000 and the Department of Corrective Services forecasts they will increase by 300 a year.
In the past, the increasing penal population led to a reduction in serious crime in the state. But returns are now diminishing on this expensive investment as more prisons are built.And research by the NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research shows that from 2004 the reduction in serious crime due to imprisonment rates levelled. So the state is left with an ever-growing bill - it costs about $73,000 to hold one prisoner for a year - and little more than a vague sense of satisfaction that wrongdoers have been punished.The latest Auditor-General's report shows the total cost for corrective services in 2007-08 was $883million - a disturbingly high figure in a state that struggles to run its schools, hospitals and public transport.Criminals must be punished, and often sent to prison.But researchers have shown the best way to reduce prisoner numbers is to not have people imprisoned in the first place, and, when they must be jailed, to ensure they are rehabilitated while they are behind bars. But the "lock 'em up" mentality still prevails in the Government and the Opposition, the media and the department. The Government should look at easing the tough bail, sentencing and parole laws that are driving up our prison population numbers. And the department should pour serious resources into rehabilitating the prisoners it has.The Auditor-General's report shows the 2007 rate of inmates returning to prisons within two years of their release was 43.8 per cent, compared with a national rate of 37.5 per cent.The Government realises this is a problem and promised in its State Plan that by 2016 it would cut by 10 per cent the number of criminals who reoffended within two years of being convicted. But a Sun-Herald investigation found that most experts doubt this goal can be met. Eight years away from the target, even the Minister for Justice, John Hatzistergos, concedes the goal "is a significant challenge".In 2007 the department spent only 15per cent of its program budget, about $122million, on "assessment, classification and development of prisoner" programs. Almost $600million went into the "containment and care of prisoners".Unless there are changes to the well-worn "law and order" path of the Government it is guaranteed that taxpayers will see more and more of their dollars going into jails and less and less into basic services.
© 2008 Sun Herald