Getting it right
Government’s Alternatives to Incarceration conference, which ended yesterday, shows what can be achieved by changing the emphasis of the criminal justice system from punishment to rehabilitation.
As the new Prisons Commissioner, John Prescod, noted on Monday, this has been a long time coming.
When Westgate Correctional Facility was opened in the early 1990s and Casemates Prison was closed, one of the primary reasons was to give inmates more rehabilitation in a better setting than Casemates could possibly provide.
That has not happened, and the new process aims, to avoid sending minor offenders to prison at all. That should guarantee that the recidivism rate, at least for people getting prison sentences, will fall.
But the success of ATI will not be demonstrated by how many people go to prison, but how many people return to court.
It is hard to argue with the basic principles of ATI. People who commit minor offences, whether for petty theft or minor drugs possession charges, should be able to turn their lives around with the support of the system.
And there is little doubt that much of the crime problem is rooted in drugs. ATI follows the logic that reducing drug abuse and demand for drugs will also reduce crime.
But it must be clear that drugs rehab and community service cannot achieve this on their own. People turn to crime for any number of reasons, but the way to move them from crime to the straight and narrow is to ensure that they have the tools to hold down a job and recognise that this is a better way to live.
That will require an immense education and training effort, and the community also needs to be prepared to take on “risky” employees and neighbours. All the rehabilitation in the world will be wasted if the “graduates” cannot get a job or a roof over their heads.
However, this is an immense gamble for employers and landlords who are being asked to accept on faith an unproven system, at least for now.
That is why the tracking and supervision of the programmes must be first class. People who enter the programmes must be held accountable and must obey the rules that are laid down.
There will be times when heart-rending cases come before the courts. But individual needs have to be balanced against the credibility of the programme and in the end, the people who successfully complete the programme will lose if backsliding is allowed.
This is a brave effort to solve the Island’s crime and drugs problem. It needs the support of the whole community and rigorous keeping of standards by its administrators if it is to succeed.