Crime & Punishment

[Theland]

If you are confused about ASBO's, targets, overcrowded prisons, light sentences, and an apparent lack of police on the streets, together with an apparent lack of political will to do anything about it, what would you suggest to tackle crime, and make the streets safe to walk in?
(Effective in reducing crime, and, cost effective - it costs �40,000 / year to keep somebody locked up!)

[Octavius]

Oh Dear, Daily Mail reader alert!

Theland, from several previous posts of yours � are you trying to lead us into the corporal/capital punishment trap?? Did you not see Waking the Dead yesterday? Have you ever lived in a country where capital punishment is carried out without any human rights and judicial proceedings??

I don�t know what the answer to your question is, but lets take for example your son who got into that fight. In typical circumstances, both boys would have been beaten with a cane by a stranger whether to blame for the fight or not. How would you feel about that?

[wizard69]

OK Theland, I give up.What will reduce crime and make it safe to walk the streets?....

[Bellringer]

Surely, a person has a right to defend themselves, family & property., without being charged by the plod.
Anyone who has been convicted in a court of law of an offence should be punished and should nor be allowed to resort to this abomination of "human rights" law. What about the "human rights" of the victims. And if prisons are over crowded take out of the cells the TVs , beds etc, there will be more room for bodies.
There should be more about punishment and less about treatment.
The criminals may then think twice about offending.

[wizard69]

Bellringer...I agree with you that people should be allowed to defend themselves without fear of prosecution and the human rights law is nothing but a joke.However, as an ex prisoner myself I can see why jail doesnt work.(and it has NOTHING to do with tv's in the cells)Firstly there are a large number of mentally ill people in jail that need help NOT punishment-im not talking about drug addicts here either-but people with genuine mental health issues who have been herded into jail rather than handed over to the psychiatric services.Secondly, prisoners with addiction problems (alcohol,drugs) get minimum treatment and so upon release continue where they left off.However i am of the opinion that a lot more could be done to prevent drugs entering prison and the cycle of abuse continuing(but then you would get the human rights act thrown in your face)
Thirdly, I remember people being incarcerated because they couldnt pay their poll tax and yet peadophiles were free to walk the streets.Something seriously wrong with the values of magistrates and judges here.
It wasnt a stint inside that "cured" me of my offending behaviour but the love of my family.Unfortuanatly there are a lot of people who dont have that.And I met loads of these people in the nick.I am not a member of the bleeding heart brigade, far from it, but I do feel incredibly lucky when I look back on what might have been...

[Theland]

There you go, it appears that there are no simple answers, despite the temptation to say otherwise.
Break the law, pay the penalty, go to gaol - but - it's far more complicated than that eh?
More money? Is that the answer? Better education, (which is more money?)
No, I genuinely want to know, what is going to be effective, not populist.