Prisons chief hits at 'gross' overcrowding

Mentally ill and record number of children locked up

UK: The departing head of the prison and probation service has launched a scathing attack on Britain's penal system, expressing his deep concern that a record number of prisoners are behind bars when the crime rate is falling.

Martin Narey, a civil servant who has served every Home Secretary since 1989, highlights statistics showing that thousands of mentally ill inmates and a record number of children now constitute a significant part of the prison population.

'As I leave, I cannot pretend to be other than dismayed at a prison population now heading towards 78,000,' writes Narey, who quit this month as permanent secretary at the National Offender Management Service, the combined prison and probation service.

'With such pressures on prisons, and even after the investment they have received, the numbers locked up often overwhelm regimes. Overcrowding condemns about 16,000 prisoners every day to conditions - sharing a toilet in a cell in which they also eat their food - which are simply gross,' Narey says in an article to be published in December. 'And the problem is not only numbers or the consequent overcrowding. Within the 77,500 we are locking up right now are about 5,000 people who are profoundly mentally ill.'

The damning comments - written for the December issue of HLM, the magazine of the Howard League for Penal Reform - come at a critical time for the prison service. Reformers claim that Britain's jails have only around 400 spaces left before they are full to capacity and express fears about the consequences for prisoners.

The problem has prompted the Home Office to consider radical options to relieve congestion, including recommissioning the floating prison ship, HMP Weare, which was closed after extensive criticism. Other proposals being considered by the Home Secretary, Charles Clarke, could include early release of up to 700 offenders, greater use of electronic tagging and converting women's jails - which still have some capacity - to house men. In addition, a building programme is predicted to boost the total number of prison places to 80,400 by 2007. Since 1995 the UK prison population has increased by 51 per cent, and the numbers have risen by 17,160 since Labour gained power.

Narey, who is the new head of the children's charity Barnardo's, says the rise is impossible to justify: 'Crime has been falling for some years. Some crime, burglary for instance, has fallen very significantly indeed.

'So there is simply no need for us to incarcerate the numbers we do. And in particular, there is no need for us to lock away 3,000 children... and because there are so many we have not been able to make children's custody the safe and constructive environment which it could be.'

Narey's concerns about the children were echoed in the House of Lords last week by the Bishop of Leicester, the Right Reverend Timothy Stevens. 'The vulnerability of the young people in prison service custody has been well documented,' he said. 'Some 60 per cent have previously been looked after by a local authority; 85 per cent exhibit signs of personality disorder; and 25 per cent of males have suffered violence at home.'

The Howard League says the most overcrowded prisons are also those with most suicides. A quarter of jails account for more than half of all suicides. 'Overcrowding is the canker at the heart of the system,' said Frances Crook, its director. 'This government has been sleepwalking to a crisis. There are signs Charles Clarke is beginning to wake up to the seriousness of it, but the government has to develop alternatives to prison.'

A Home Office spokesman said it was spreading innovative sentencing strategies to ease the pressures and keeping the prison population under continuous review.

By Jamie Doward posted 24 October 05

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All the World's a Prison: History
No doubt many of my readers, even those who are well-educated or widely read, think that the prison -- the place where dark deeds are darkly answered[2] -- is an ancient institution, a barbaric hold-over from barbaric times. In fact, the prison is of relatively recent origin, and this tells us a great deal about the pretentions and realities of modern times, and the wisdom and high degree of development of the ancients.

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Put in the way of self-harm in a place intended to protect others
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UK solitary confinement
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US land of the free: 2,131,180 prisoners

US: WASHINGTON -- The nation's prisons and jails held 2,131,180 inmates as of June 30, 2004, the Justice Department's Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) announced this week. Two-thirds were in federal and state prisons, and the other third were in local jails. Jail authorities were supervising an additional 70,548 men and women in the community in work release, weekend reporting, electronic monitoring and other alternative programs.

The incarcerated population grew by 48,452 inmates between midyear 2003 and midyear 2004. Jail inmates grew by 3.3 percent, state prisoners by 1.3 percent, and federal prisoners by 6.3 percent. On June 30, 2004, there were an estimated 726 persons per 100,000 U.S. residents in prison or jail.

In the year ending June 30, 2004, 13 states reported an increase of at least 5 percent, led by Minnesota (13.2 percent), Montana (10.5 percent), and Arkansas (8.9 percent). Twelv e states reported decreases in the number of prisoners, including Alabama (6.7 percent), Connecticut (2.5 percent) and Ohio (2.3 percent).

Between June 30, 2003 and June 30, 2004, the number of female prisoners increased 2.9 percent to reach 103,310. At the same time, male prisoners increased 2 percent to reach 1,390,906. Overall, including inmates in prison and jail, men were 11 times more likely to be incarcerated than women (1,348 male inmates per 100,000 U.S. male residents compared t o 123 female inmates per 100,000 female residents).

State prisons held 2,477 youths under 18 years old in 2004, less than half of the peak number in 1995 (5,309 youths). Local jails held an estimated 7,083 youths, down from 7,800 in 1995.

On June 30, 2004, the 50 largest jail jurisdictions held nearly one-third of all jail inmates. Eight jurisdictions experienced double-digit growth in the year ending midyear 2004, led by Clark County, Nevada; Fulton County, Georgia; and Orange County, California -- all up 20 percent.

An estimated 12.6 percent of all black males in their late twenties were in prisons or jails, compared to 3.6 percent of Hispanic males and 1.7 percent of white males.

The number of noncitizens held in state or federal prisons increased 1.4 percent in the year ending June 30, 2004, reaching 91,789. Almost two-thirds of incarcerated noncitizens were held by the federal system.

Privately operated prison facilities held 98,791 men and women, up 3.4 percent in the six months since December 31, 2003. The federal prison system used privately operated facilities to house 13.7 percent of inmates; 5.6 percent of state prisoners were housed in private facilities.

According to the most recent data available, at year-end 2003 prison systems were estimated to be at capacity to 16 percent above capacity. At midyear 2004, jails were operating at 94 percent of capacity.

The report, "Prison and Jail Inmates at Midyear 2004" (NCJ-208801), was written by BJS statisticians Paige M. Harrison and Allen J. Beck. Following publication.

Additional information about BJS statistical reports and programs is available from the BJS website. OJP provides federal leadership in developing the nation's capacity to prevent and control crime, administer justice, and assist crime victims. OJP is headed by an Assistant Attorney General and comprises five component bureaus and two offices: the Bureau of Justice Assistance, the Bureau of Justice Statistics, the National Institute of Justice, the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, and the Office for Victims of Crime, as well as the Office of the Police Corps and Law Enforcement Education, and the Community Capacity Development Office, which incorporates the Weed and Seed program and OJP's American Indian and Alaska Native Affairs Desk. More information.

By Critical Resistance 2 May 05

Related:

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