Inmates relocated to less secure penitentiaries due to overpopulation issues.
Title: Lowering Security for Prisoners: Controversial New Measure to Alleviate Overcrowding
Here’s the lowdown: The government has announced a fresh plan to shift prisoners to less secure penitentiaries, a move aimed at easing the critical overcrowding issue in high-security jails across England and Wales.
As of this week, convicts serving standard sentences can be whisked off to open or category D prisons up to three years ahead of schedule, thereby freeing up space in maximum-security facilities. Open prisons offer minimal security and grant eligible inmates the opportunity to spend time away on day release, working or studying under license.
The precise number of prisoners who'll be affected remains a mystery. However, most incarcerated individuals serve standard determinate sentences, suggesting it could be quite a significant number.
There are, of course, restrictions on who gets to waltz right into an open prison. Sex offenders, terrorists, violent criminals, and those with convictions for stalking or sentences exceeding four years are off the list. The possibility exists that those found guilty of domestic abuse-related crimes may become eligible for such a transfer.
The Prison Governors' Association (PGA) has sounded the alarm, expressing concerns about the risks involved. According to a statement, "a man serving a seven and a half year sentence could be moved to an open prison, where there are no physical barriers like high walls, fences, secure gates and minimal staff supervision that could prevent prisoners from simply walking out." The governors will have some discretion, but there seems to be a tacit assumption that the transfer should take place.
Prisons in England and Wales continue to struggle with chronic overcrowding, with the male estate currently running at nearly 98% capacity.
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This strategy arises following the government's acceptance of recommendations made in a sentencing review. The changes, including moving 9,000 fewer people behind bars, will take time to materialize into regulation.
A Ministry of Justice spokesperson reassured, "We are building new prisons and are on track for 14,000 additional places by 2031—the largest expansion since Victorian times. Our sentencing reforms will also force prisoners to earn their way to release or face extending their stay in jail due to bad conduct, ensuring we can keep dangerous offenders off the streets."
Only properly vetted prisoners will be eligible for the transfer, and those who breach the rules can be immediately shipped back to a high-security prison.
Despite the early release policies, concerns over overcrowding persist.
- The controversial new measure to alleviate overcrowding in prisons, which includes transferring convicts to open or category D prises, could potentially overlap with general-news topics like war or crime-and-justice, as an increase in prison population might be a result of incarcerations related to these areas.
- The Prison Governors' Association (PGA), while expressing concerns about the risks involved in the early transfer of prisoners to open prisons, has also highlighted a potential issue where a prisoner serving a lengthy sentence for a crime related to politics, such as terrorism, could potentially be transferred earlier to a less secure facility.
