Billions wasted on 'revolving door' jail system

[Ace]

Billions wasted on 'revolving door' jail system

Criminologists have slated the nature of Australia's prison system, saying billions of dollars are being poured into jails that fail to reform offenders and improve community safety.

Figures released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) reveal that almost 60 per cent of people in prison last year had been in jail before.

Alternatives

Professor of criminology at the University of New South Wales, Chris Cunneen, agrees that unless the causes of crime are addressed, Australia will stay on a "revolving door cycle" of people going in and out of prison.

Professor Cunneen says the ABS figures show how limited the prison system is in deterrence, rehabilitation and ensuring long-term community safety.

"And this is only looking at the extreme end. It's not even talking about people who have reoffended," he said.

"There would be a much higher proportion of people who have reoffended but weren't necessarily sentenced to imprisonment."

He says about $2.6 billion is spent on Australian prisons each year.

"It's a significant amount of money that's spent on locking people up and I think we could quite rightly ask for better results, for the lowering in the use of imprisonment or for better alternatives," he said.

"With people with mental illness, there needs to be better community-based treatment facilities for them rather than simply locking them up.

"If we're talking about people who have literacy and numeracy problems, who find it very difficult to get work because of those problems or lack of skills, there are issues there that need to be addressed.

"And there are very significant problems around drug and alcohol abuse, which are not dealt with in prison at all."

Punitive response

Professor Cunneen agrees with Mr Collins that governments rely on what they see to be popular demand for a punitive response.

"But if we actually want to deal with the problems and causes that lie behind offending then we need to look at other avenues of tackling the problem," he said.

"Prison is not something that's effectively dealing with the social problems that lead to crime or individual problems that might lead to particular individuals committing offences."

He says treatment of mental illness and drug and alcohol addiction are two areas in which investment needs to flow to reduce both prison and reimprisonment rates.

The ABS report found Northern Territory prisoners had the highest reimprisonment rate - 48.2 per cent - with Queensland and NSW not far behind at 42.1 per cent and 39.3 per cent respectively.

I was discussing this with my partner the other day and low and behold, here it is in the news. All we need to do is have a look at what our prison model is based on - the dismal failure that is the USA's system. Given the fact that the reoffending rates are so phenominally high, is it time to look at an overhaul of the current prison model? If you could change the current system, how would you go about implementing a more effective system? Thoughts and suggestions are welcome.

[Quill]

I think a large part of this problem is the jail system's focus on punishment for a crime, rather on rehabilitation, which surely would be the smarter choice. Along with creating a better community by having these criminals better themselves, taxpayers would be saving billions.

Firstly look at how many people are in jail for drug offences, this represents a huge proportion of the jail population, the majority of these criminals are not in jail for making or selling drugs but for possessing them. This suggests that they are the victims of drug addiction (where drugs of addiction are concerned), if Australia were to follow Portugal regarding their drug laws Australia would undoubtedly be in a better place.

Umm this is one point, i'm sure i've got more but this'll do for a start

[botanika]

Prison's themselves don't realy focus on punishment policies - it is the public that has often demanded punishment and accountability in Australia and legislation follows suit. Before anything can change, australian witch burning culture needs to change. Newspapers in Australia focus on punishment, shame and accountability. 'shark attacks boy, fishermen hunt for 'problem' shark', 'footballer misses goal - coach wants him dropped', 'shane warne naughty texts - wife leaves shameful marriage', 'drug dealer caught - prosecution seeks maximum penalty', 'droughts in rural areas - Rudd to blame', 'lightning strikes man in bowral - Rudd also to blame', 'smoking banned everywhere - offenders to face public humiliation'. Our prison system is similar to the US because deep down so is our culture.

[Hendry]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pEQkX8bdM1Y

The salad tossing clip makes me want to practice sharpening my toothbrush just incase I get framed lol.



In the second video is a good example of a fake check writer (the main characters friend) being sent to prison (by mistake?) where he was living with death row inmates. There are a lot of people in jail who didn’t do much to get there on the other hand some of the people there are in the right place.


The following is from (gorillaconvict.com)


“Prison Weapon Design

Designing a weapon in prison takes ingenuity, creativity and delicacy. In the netherworld of corruption and violence a banger, shank or slock might be a convict’s only means of holding the predators at bay. Because life in the penitentiary is akin to living in a fishbowl with a cadre of sharks. And all guppies or little fishes will be swallowed whole and exposed. Becoming either a mark for extortion or worse a victim of rape. Prostituted out by a gang for a come up. So it pays to be prepared and take it to the wall when necessary. Here are a few design techniques for homemade prison weapons straight out of the belly of the beast.

The Slock- This prison weapon is the easiest to assemble and has the most accessible components. Basically a slock is a lock in a sock. In every cell prisoners have a wall locker to store their belongings (legal papers, photos from home, Vice magazines, books, toi1itries and commissary) so the canteens sell cheap $5.85 combination master locks, so that inmates can lock their lockers. If a prisoner doesn't have a shank, razor or banger at hand he can just grab his lock, and put it in a sock, and whack the person he is beefing with. Other variations of a slock include attaching two locks on a laundry issued belt or putting several cans of tuna or mackerel in a sock. Batteries and gravel work too. It is usually best to double up the socks so that the lock, batteries or cans of tuna don't come flying out if the sock rips when it’s swung. This prison designed weapon acts as a sort of medieval flail or morning star. And a couple of cracks on the dome can inflict serious damage and leave the victim with his wig split.

The Shank- A shank or shiv functions as a knife or cut card as they're called in here. A prisoner can use a variety of objects for the blade of the shank. Any type of metal sliver or cylinder shaped metal object is the most preferred. The die cast metal frames from plastic chairs can be stripped down, broken up and used. The metal appendages or parts from a mop ringer, mop, dust broom, folding chair, typewriter or folding table can be used. As can a nail, box cutter razor, or any type of screw, pointed tool, or metal object that can be sharpened to a point that will cut or pierce the skin. But if no metal can be had prisoners will use a tooth brush, spoon, or any type of plastic utensil. Just grind it down and sharpen it to a point. Taking sliders of plastic from the big plastic trash cans that/are used to collect the garbage work well. The plastic is hard, durable and malleable. Also wood can be carved down into a pointed stake, or a chicken bone can be fashioned into a blade or a rock grinded, sharpened and shaped into a point. Once the blade is fashioned for the shank this piece will be attached to anything that can serve as a handle. Like cardboard, a rolled up magazine, or newspaper, or a plastic handle from a coffee cup. Also any type of container like a shampoo bottle or lotion bottle can be manufactured into a handle also. The blade will be attached or burnt into the handle, and then electrical or packaging tape can be wrapped around the handle to provide a grip. Or if the blade is long enough just tape can be wrapped on the unsharpened end to make the handle. A shank can be a dangerous and lethal weapon that can puncture the body and hit vital organs, killing instantly. There’s been cases of prisoners wielding sword like shanks that resemble ice picks and reach lengths of 15 inches.

The Banger- A banger can be designed with a toothbrush and the razor blade from a disposable razor that prisoners use to shave. It's usually best to remove about 3 razor blades from the disposable razors, and then attach them to the end of a toothbrush by burning the plastic with matches until it melts, and then inserting the razor blades and dipping the weapon into cold water, so that the razor blades are set and molded into the toothbrush blade side up. A banger can inflict vicious slash/cut wounds that scar the victim for life. A slash from a banger will cut a persons skin right open and lead to heavy bleeding. Usually this wound is inflicted on a person’s neck, head, or face to leave a permanent mark of the attack.

These are the 3 most commonly made or designed weapons fashioned in prison, but a lot of other things are used depending on the circumstances and the combatants location in the prison. In the kitchen area real knives, pots and pans come into play. In the rec yard softball bats, or even a guitar, or pool balls might be used as a weapon. Pool cues, broom handles, and mops can and have been used as weapons in prison fights. In facilities or the prison factory there are a number of tools or accessories that could be used as weapons. That is why tool accountability in prison is extremely important, and a missing screwdriver, or hammer could lead to an institutional lockdown until the tool is found.

Another favorite weapon or attack mode that prisoners use is to throw
boiling hot baby oil on victims. This concoction or brew is usually
boiled in a coffee cup and can include any type of mixture of the following- baby oil, lotion, piss, shit, cleaning agents, scouring powder, shampoo, or medical creams like Acne 10, or bacteria cream. This concoction is brewed together and boiled in the microwave, or with a stinger (a prison made heating device) and then thrown on the victim. The effects are quite horrendous. The concoction can literally melt a person’s skin off leaving major skin deformations, and if thrown in the face, or eyes can do irreparable damage. This is often referred to as a devils brew, or liquid acid.

Prisoners are also known to use straight razors to cut or slash, mop wringers to bash an opponent, or even broken broom handles to spear somebody and inflict maximum damage. Old magazines or newspapers can be molded into weapons also by being repeatedly wet and rolled up and left to dry again and again. As it dries it will keep getting harder, and after several times through this process will become almost club like.

Prison is a gladiator school, and the maxim is "boys fight, men kill." So dudes will go hard to get their respect. If they know a confrontation is imminent they will get strapped up. This entails taping layers of magazines to the torso to act as body armor under a prison issued jacket and taping shanks to the hands so no dropping of the weapon will occur in battle. Prisoners strapped up like this can go at each other like warriors. And the designs of the weapons are all up to the prisoners ingenuity, creativity, and ability to adapt to their surroundings and make use of the things in their environment. “ - (gorillaconvict.com)

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=5749037562192962462#

[devance]

[Designing a weapon in prison takes ingenuity, creativity and delicacy. In the netherworld of corruption and violence a banger, shank or slock might be a convict’s only means of holding the predators at bay. Because life in the penitentiary is akin to living in a fishbowl with a cadre of sharks. And all guppies or little fishes will be swallowed whole and exposed. Becoming either a mark for extortion or worse a victim of rape. Prostituted out by a gang for a come up. So it pays to be prepared and take it to the wall when necessary. Here are a few design techniques for homemade prison weapons straight out of the belly of the beast.]

Right, theres is a strongarm tactic as paying for insurance aginst a attack which can be difficult from 3 or 4 big guys at a time if happened so the insurance as supposedly they will protect you.

So the prison theory is a fear of the microstate[so have a big one of nation security state is give your children to the military and pay taxes until the next war], which only comes from homosexiual rape and paying extortion in a prison system.

[devance]

Best weapon is to create your own strongarm extortion insurance agency from the strong arm guys [in prison]as a piece of the action and a offer they can't refuse.

[devance]

Maybe saw pirates [PBS]to much last night on TV, not much on prisons but had something to with ship people,alcohol, mercury sex cures and it was only 1 1/2 months from the carrabian to africa.

i thought too long[except with AUSS female prisoners] but maybe not with a sea chart..

wind and sea tides.

Arrh never will.

[Hendry]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5_tc6phmaMI

No easy answers to this problem. Compared the states Australia is getting off light (monetarily speaking)