Prisons Cause Crime

Now here's a surreal story. According to the BBC, Humberside police don't want one of the MoJ's super prisons on their patch because they say it will increase crime in their area:-

Full Sutton 'super prison': Police object to plans

Police have objected to plans for a new "super prison", fearing it would increase violent crime within the jail and raise demands on the force. Planning permission has been approved by East Riding Council for a £91m Category C jail near an existing high-security prison in Full Sutton. But Ch Supt Phil Ward from Humberside Police said the prison would create an estimated 250 more crimes each year.

The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) said it had carried out impact assessments. It said in a statement: "We commissioned all the appropriate impact assessments required for the planning process using the standard methodologies. "These included traffic, environmental, and public service impact reports which have been submitted to the local authority."

Ch Supt Ward said: "Comparisons with similar sized Category B prisons to that proposed in the planning application show recorded criminal offences to be circa 250 per year, the majority of which (circa 150) are recorded violence offences. "These offences require investigation which will place significant additional demand on Humberside Police."

The MOJ said they were not aware of any evidence that shows the risk of crime increases around areas with prisons in them. As well as a rise in crime, however, Ch Supt Ward also cited concerns over the impact on the community and transport network. He added that the village of Full Sutton "already suffers from significant non-village traffic flow due to the current prison facility" and "insufficient public transport to mitigate the anticipated traffic flow increase".

The existing prison - HMP Full Sutton - is a maximum security prison for men in Category A and Category B. It has a capacity of about 150 male inmates. The new facility proposed by the MoJ would house 1,440 inmates. Category C prisons are training and resettlement prisons, which allow inmates the opportunity to integrate back into the community on release.

Objections have also been received from more than 100 members of the public and protests have been held over the plans. Dozens of people gathered to protest in March, saying the area would be unable to cope with the extra traffic and it would make the area less desirable.