UK headed for prison meltdown


Duncan Campbell and Alan Travis
Saturday March 31, 2007
The Guardian

The former head of the prison service has warned that up to 100,000 people could be in jail by the end of the decade unless drastic and immediate action is taken by the government.

The prediction from Martin Narey came as the prison population in England and Wales reached an all-time high yesterday of more than 80,300, with only four spare places left in emergency police cells anywhere in the country. The crisis meant prison service officials were, for the first time, forced to turn to cells in magistrates courts with hard benches, no beds and no toilets. The move had near disastrous consequences. Securicor officers were asked to volunteer to look after four prisoners held overnight at a magistrates court in north London. One of the prisoners made a suicide attempt which was only prevented at the last minute.Speaking to the Guardian, Mr Narey warned that Britain is heading towards US levels of imprisonment.


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"I wouldn't be surprised at all if by 2010 there were 100,000 people in prison. I think there is every chance that, at the end of the decade, we will look back nostalgically at a figure of 80,000. The US experience shows there is no end to this."
He added that about 6,000 people were locked up at any one time who are "profoundly mentally ill".

The former director of the prison service was speaking as part of a Guardian investigation into the huge rise in the prison population over the last decade.

David Blunkett also admitted his regrets that, as home secretary, he was unable to convince judges of the importance of non-custodial sentences for minor offences.

"If I have a big regret about the three and half years as home secretary, it is that I never quite got that message across. Judges used to say to me that 'there is a contradiction here; you keep saying you want more community sentences and less short prison sentences but then in the next breath you're talking about tough sentences and life meaning life.' They are entirely compatible as far as I'm concerned... I never wanted them to go soft but to be consistent."

A former prison governor, Stephen Rimmer, now director of strategy at the Metropolitan police, suggested that only another Strangeways riot might gain the public's attention on the issue of overcrowding.

Yesterday the jail population in England and Wales reached an all-time high of 80,316, including 397 locked overnight in police cells under Operation Safeguard.

But, with impending local elections, the home secretary John Reid is firmly against any new early release programme.

Ministers are in the process of building 10,000 extra prison places with "temporary custodial modules" being rushed into existing prison perimeters to create 700 more places this year. The bulk of the extra places, however, are several years behind Mr Narey's prediction.

Lord Falconer, who will take over responsibility for prisons in May when they pass into the control of the newly created justice ministry, said yesterday the role and limits of incarceration needed to be clarified and acknowledged the need to manage the "burgeoning prison population" better. He refused to rule out a new early release programme and said he would consider legislation requiring judges to consider prison overcrowding when sentencing.

The last three years has seen a 26% increase in the number of children and young people criminalised and seven times as much is spent on youth custody as on prevention schemes. We lock up 23 children per 100,000 population, compared with six in France, two in Spain and 0.2 in Finland.

Well if they've lowered the age kids can be jailed for crimes and are happy giving them records (asbos) like bus passes without sorting out the state of the areas they live in what do they expect?

Won't be long before the prisions are just another part ofstreet culture and dealers start operating from inside like they do in the states... if they're not already.

Would be sad if it comes true, but can't say that I'd be shocked.


Lot of people waste time complaining about things that are NOT gonna change, and neglect to try to realistically address some of the isues that would lead to higher incarceration rates.

Easier to blame entertainment industry and certain artists....than to roll up your sleeves and DO something.

DtotheJ wrote: Yes, but how are you going to convince young people to invest in their futures through education and hard work, when all the time their only visible "role models" are the rappers who fill their heads with dellusions of instant fame and wealth?

"Get rich or die trying" said 50 Cent. Get rich doing what exactly? I don't think he was referring to getting a degree and becoming an investment banker.

The music industry promotes drugs, crime, violence and the utter disrespect of women. With young, impressionable minds fed a diet of this glorification of "ghetto culture" we have lost almost an entire generation of black kids - who have all been suckered into believing that they'll make their fortunes through crime, music or sport - not through the education system.



What we desperately needare two things:

1) Many more role models like Will Smith, who show black boys what it really means to be a mani.e taking personal responsibilty for your life.

2) Less black people screaming "sell out!" everytime they see a brother doing well for himself, having opted to get a legitimate job inside the "white man's system". This only makes the problem worse because,from a young age, the black kids avoid being seen as succeeding in school, for fear of being called a "coconut" etc.

This culture of labelling people as "sell-outs" whenever we see them succeeding is utterly self-defeating and stupid.

Oblivion,

The gnerations that are lost, at least where I am, are lost because of the after effects of CRACk......and a downwardly spiraling Black community .


the music doesn't help, but the music reflects the conditions.... the egg came AFTER the chicken....

now, whether or not you disagree with me......besides pointing out obvious things.."hoping more role models emerge""hoping that many of us stop equating good things with being white"...what are you doing to help the problem.

In you heart of hearts...I think you know full well that none of the things you are "hoping" for....will actually mysteriously happen . That's no disrespect, that's honesty.

now, moving forward......what is being done besides complaining about things that will not EVER change.

DtotheJ wrote: Black people would have said the same thing in previous generations, i.e "This is just the way things are - that's the way they'll always be".

Half a century ago, black people were openly portrayed as clown-like figures of stupidity and ridicule. Look at the Minstrels - in their day, people thought they were the "normal" representation of blacks and assumed things would remain that way.



Or the so-called "Golliwogs" - children's toys that portrayed black people as being sinister and deceitful:



My point is this, these things had a huge impact on the way black people saw themselves, crushing any sense of self-worth. They also reinforced everyone else's negative perceptions of black people and this was considered a norm that wouldn't change.

Today, the most powerful actor in the world is ablack man, Will Smith. Disney has, for the first time in its history, announced that it will have black princess. This is nowhere near enough - but at least it's a start. And while these things may seem unimportant, it's absolutely crucial that young black kids have some positive role models.

I agree that poverty, crack/cocain, poor levels of education and the policies of "gentrification" have had far more disastrous consequences for the black population than any rappers - I'm not naive to that.

But in 2007, the media is more powerful than at any other time in history. That is where the battle for "hearts and minds" must be waged hardest.

Remember how after hurricane Katrina, black people were shown by the media as "looters" while the whites were shown "retrieving supplies"?



Whoever controls the media controls - to a large degree - public perception. The importance of this power cannot be overstated.

Our children are being spoon fed a diet of "ghetto" culture. Switch on the television or the radio and you will be bombarded with the image of black people as either criminals, brainless sportsmen, or wealthy rappers. Until we destroy that self-loathing image of ourselves, we'll continue down the same old road.

"If I am not for myself, who will be for me?"

Rabbi Hillel(30 BC - 9 AD)

Oblivion wrote: clp)clp)Good well..... presented post

Yeah, I'll second that.

clp)clp)

Gonna address this later......you didn't really answer my question, but I will answer and reply to your entire post paragraph by paragraph. stay tuned.

Oblivion wrote:

What we desperately needare two things:

1) Many more role models like Will Smith, who show black boys what it really means to be a mani.e taking personal responsibilty for your life.


I agree with you generally. But just playing the advocate..would you of said that when Will Smith was making rap tunes with Jazzy Jeff? He stared in a few films and made alot of money. Just curious to know why Will Smith is a role model.

Bredder Tukoma wrote:
I don't think that Will Smith is a particularly good actor - charisma and humour yes - but not a brilliant actor.The sadtruth is, there's just nobody else around at the moment who is a black, A-list Hollywood actor,and hasn't sold his soul in exchange for money. I'm thinking Samuel L Jackson in travesties like 'Snakes on a Plane'. Where did it all go wrong Samuel?.

Now that Smith has more money than he'll ever need - $20 million per movie - I'm glad to see him choosing to remember his roots and set a positive example to young black men e.g his latest film The Persuit of Happiness. He could easily have settled for trash, but has instead taken a more mature stance towards film-making (unlike Martin Lawrence - his co-star in 'Bad Boys' - who has made nothing but**** ever since).

So that's why I respect Will Smith - even if he is only the best from a not-particularly-good bunch.

Best black actor of recent years?... Morgan Freeman IMO. After seeing him in 'The Shawshank Redemption' (possibly the best film of the 90's) I became convinced of his brilliance. His description of being a prisoninmate perfectly captured the mental slavery faced by black people in America.



"Believe what you want. These wallsare funny. First you hate them, thenyou get used to them. After longenough, you get so you depend onthem. That's "institutionalized."

Morgan Freeman - The Shawshank Redemption