Thursday 29 December 2022

Here We Go Again

Judging by media reports today, one has to wonder where the Labour Party is getting it's Criminal Justice System advice from as they head down the unintelligent and blinkered 'tough on crime' path again:-  

Victims choose offenders’ punishment under Labour’s anti-social behaviour review

Shadow justice secretary Steve Reed says he will update Tony Blair’s ‘tough on crime, tough on the causes of crime’ mantra and focus on prevention. The victims of anti-social behaviour could choose how offenders are punished under plans being pitched by Labour.

The opposition has positioned itself as the party of law and order, with shadow justice secretary Steve Reed saying he will update Tony Blair’s “tough on crime, tough on the causes of crime” slogan and put prevention at the heart of their approach.

The Times said freedom of information requests showed nearly two million reports of anti-social behaviour had gone unattended over the past three years, while community sentences halved over the last decade from 185,265 in 2011 to 72,021 in 2021.

Criminal justice consultancy Crest Advisory attributed the decline to magistrates losing confidence that the sentences would be completed, the paper added.

Mr Reed said increasing and strengthening the use of such sentences would tackle reoffending rates and give “a voice directly to victims.” He told The Times: “Victims will be able to select the unpaid work that offenders carry out, so victims will be seeing justice done.”

Labour wants to widen the scope of community sentences work beyond tasks such as clearing wasteland, decorating community centres, repairing churches and removing graffiti. It also proposes victims sit on new community payback boards overseeing sentences and ensuring they are completed.

Mr Reed said he wants to update Mr Blair’s 1990s slogan about being “tough on the causes of crime” by reviewing how to put prevention at the heart of the criminal justice system. The review will look at how countries including New Zealand have adopted an approach of providing specialist treatment to prevent reoffending by those living with domestic violence or parents with serious mental health problems.

Mr Reed said: “Rather than just giving up on those people or letting them get out there and offend, I want to keep people safe and keep our community safe. “You can do that by tackling the effects of the trauma that leads them to offending. By doing it, you make them much less likely to offend again. “So if you really want to keep people safe, we’ve got to update Labour’s old slogan: ‘Tough on crime, tough on the causes of crime’ and make it fit for the future. “This whole science around trauma in early years didn’t exist in the early 1990s when Tony Blair came up with that phrase. So I want to update it for today.”

The party branded as “disgraceful” recent figures showing more than one million thefts went unsolved last year. An analysis by Labour of crime statistics found that 1,145,254 cases of theft were dropped last year because the police failed to find a suspect. It said that on average a domestic burglary costs victims £1,400, with the party warning that families were losing millions due to unsolved crimes.

Labour said that if it was in government, it would put 13,000 more police on the streets in a move funded by merging procurement for forces in England and Wales. Earlier this year police chiefs in England and Wales promised that forces will attend all residential thefts.

Shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper on Tuesday called the figures “disgraceful”. “Theft and burglary are awful crimes and should be properly investigated, not just left for the victims to make an insurance claim. “The Home Secretary has no plan to turn this around and is instead obsessed with gimmicks rather than a serious plan to catch more criminals. “Labour has a fully costed plan to put 13,000 extra neighbourhood police on our streets, fighting crime at its source and supporting communities.”

The party also found that the overall charge rate, which is the proportion of crimes that result in a suspect being arrested and charged, has fallen to a low of just 5.4%, down from over 15% seven years ago.

A Home Office spokesperson said: “As the Home Secretary has made clear, we welcome the commitment for police attendance at home burglaries. “We continue to support the police, including through record investment and the recruitment of 20,000 additional officers by March 2023.”

17 comments:

  1. Erm, it doesn't really matter - there'll soon be no-one well enough to supervise those who commit crimes, so locking everyone up will be de rigeur:

    "Downing Street says Britain has no plans to impose Covid travel restrictions on visitors from China."

    https://news.sky.com/story/covid-patients-no-longer-have-to-quarantine-in-hong-kong-as-restrictions-are-lifted-12775498

    Seems Boris's "Let the bodies pile high" policy is alive & kicking.

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  2. Helen Schofield Probation Institute29 December 2022 at 08:59

    We will be contributing to the review with many other sound organisations. Important that we use this ..once in 20 years opportunity...to focus Labour on the state of the justice system, on mental health support, reducing short term prison sentences and effectively supporting people on release from prison. Maybe review police behaviour and effectiveness separately!

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  3. Helen Schofield Probation Institute29 December 2022 at 09:13

    Important review by Labour - once in 20+ year opportunity to contribute and we will be contributing! Don't let the Blair agenda drive this. Focus must include addressing the state of the justice system! Also reducing short term sentences, improving mental health provision and support on release from prison. Maybe a separate review of police behaviour and effectiveness!

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    1. Most importantly we need Labour to commit to sorting Probation out and give it independence from HM Prison Service.

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    2. Is the "Helen Schofield Probation Institute" a new organisation? Seems like their PR bots are on the case.

      As you suggest, Jim, it would be more helpful if they focused on encouraging Labour & others in resurrecting independent, effective & meaningful probation service provision from the cloth-eared ranks of shit-on-command hmpps bullies aka- the wonks & yes-people who are more aligned with the politics of punishment & personal gain than any form of meaningful work with people.

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    3. Yes indeed get rid of all these bent corrupted do what they like police. In 4 years I have seen two attempted and failed prosecutions . Taken by individual cops one was off duty and tried to mount a case it collapsed but he got it to court. Same guy writes to driver's making allegation vexatiously. Another set of 3 officers on camera made false allegations of something they could not have seen. On challenge they dropped the case clearly liars in another case attending a clients door 17 times for not one good reason than a complaining neighbour of known behaviour. A formal complaint stopped it. The list goes on bent police corrupted state. Probation has no chance sadly. If the police read this they are a despicable agency.

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    4. There are some absolutely fantastic police officers out there. I have worked with many of them. Please don’t paint everyone with the same brush. There are good and bad in every organisation.

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    5. Of course and I have too but they all know what others are like and it's a wide brush that will tarnish them till they take a grass root reorganisation. So corrupt and they are destroying the least affluent people the rich always protected. Police remain despicable until they clean out their shit bags.

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  4. Jim,
    Labour is unashamedly a vote catching machine and will tailor policies accordingly.
    The majority of the people I speak to want stiffer sentences, corporal punishment, capital punishment, the stocks and possibly the guillotine.
    There needs to be a campaign of education to explain that punitive sentences are not the only option and that intervention can be efFective if we are allowed time and space to address underlying causes of offending. Unfortunately, I don’t think the politicians or the public are in listening mode hence the headlong rush into ploughing huge sums into massive prisons which they can’t staff and which will. E rely contribute to the revolving door.
    I think if you start from the position of having little faith in any Labour government, particularly under Starmer, you will not be too disappointed.
    Remember I have said before that they don’t want to destroy capitalism, they want to inherit it and try to run the system better than the Tories rather than change anything.

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  5. I think giving victims the the right to choose offenders punishment is an extremely dangerous path to begin walking along.
    It's opening a door that others will push at, and who knows where it may end up.
    It might be wrapped up in the context of anti social behaviour today, but it's a first step in removing justice from the hands of the judiciary into the hands of the State and the courtroom of public opinion.
    Criminal sanction and punishment belongs to the courts alone, start removing it from there we risk the possibility of Bush tucker trials being imposed today, and maybe lynch mobs tomorrow.
    I think it's a very dark and dangerous road to begging travelling down.

    'Getafix

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  6. Community sentences, reparation work, even chain gangs: Yes

    Victims choosing offenders’ punishment: No

    Probation Institute: Not the ‘voice of probation’. Please stay away.

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  7. Two things here; Do we not need to look at the rise in out of court disposals here? Those members of the public expressing dissatisfaction that reported crime was not attended means the police were called but did not attend ergo no prosecution and also therefore no court appearances or lead-into probation type disposals.
    Out of court disposals have also skyrocketed in recent years taking out the lower end of offending and lower level anti social behaviour.
    This all emphasises my conviction that offending rates reflect policing practice and not a great deal else.

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    1. The irony is that the police then pat themselves on the back for their “offender management” of sexual offenders and IOM.

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    2. https://amp-theguardian-com.cdn.ampproject.org/v/s/amp.theguardian.com/uk-news/2022/dec/30/police-1800-officers-recruited-under-boris-johnson-scheme-have-resigned?amp_gsa=1&amp_js_v=a9&usqp=mq331AQKKAFQArABIIACAw%3D%3D#amp_ct=1672485222479&amp_tf=From%20%251%24s&aoh=16724850833898&referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com&ampshare=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theguardian.com%2Fuk-news%2F2022%2Fdec%2F30%2Fpolice-1800-officers-recruited-under-boris-johnson-scheme-have-resigned

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  8. The Companion of the Order of the Bath is second only to a damehood or knighthood.

    So hmpps's phil copple is now second only to such luminaries as gavin williamson, jimmy saville & edna everage.

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  9. Blunkett brought in IPP and the lingering smell of that legacy lives on- one of the most divisive sentencing processes brought in by a Labour government! Be careful what you wish for. Any Labour government now taking the reins will be little more than Diet Conservative. Mandelson, Campbell and Blair are to blame for that. Labour died when John Smith died.

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    1. "Labour died when John Smith died." - yes it did.

      Also, never forget who brought in the legislation which enabled Grayling to crash TR through the walls of Westminster.

      Offender Management Act 2007

      Part 1 New arrangements for the provision of probation services

      Section 1 Meaning of “the probation purposes”

      Section 2 Responsibility for ensuring the provision of probation services

      (1) It is the function of the Secretary of State to ensure that sufficient provision is made throughout England and Wales—

      (a) for the probation purposes;

      (b) for enabling functions conferred by any enactment (whenever passed or made) on providers of probation services, or on officers of a provider of probation services, to be performed; and

      (c) for the performance of any function of the Secretary of State under any enactment (whenever passed or made) which is expressed to be a function to which this paragraph applies;

      and any provision which the Secretary of State considers should be made for a purpose mentioned above is referred to in this Part as “probation provision”.

      Section 3 Power to make arrangements for the provision of probation services

      (1) This section applies to any probation provision which the Secretary of State considers ought to be made for any of the purposes mentioned in section 2(1).

      (2) The Secretary of State may make contractual or other arrangements with any other person for the making of the probation provision.

      (3) Arrangements under subsection (2) may in particular authorise or require that other person—

      (a) to co-operate with other providers of probation services or persons who are concerned with the prevention or reduction of crime or with giving assistance to the victims of crime;

      (b) to authorise individuals under section 9(2) to act as officers of a provider of probation services;

      (c) to make contractual or other arrangements with third parties for purposes connected with the probation provision to be made, including in particular contractual or other arrangements—

      (i) for provision to be made, or for activities to be carried out, by third parties on behalf of that other person; or

      (ii) for individuals who are not members of that other person's staff to act as officers of a provider of probation services.

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