PRT comment on Prime Minister’s crime and disorder speech

Commenting on the Prime Minister’s crime and disorder speech today, Juliet Lyon, director of the Prison Reform Trust, said:

The Prime Minister’s speech talked of new crimes and new causes of crime but the new crime strategy must not ignore what the last decade has taught us about what works and what doesn’t. The politics of being tough on crime has won many headlines but has left us with a prison system today that acts as a hugely expensive social dustbin, which is basically ineffective at ensuring the prisoners it releases do not offend again.  
 
It’s vital that in the build up to the next general election all political parties ensure we debate these issues honestly and in a way which recognises that doing the right thing isn’t always the most popular or easiest option. Surveys are clear that victims of crime favour sentences that are effective over those that are tough.  During ‘zero tolerance’ in New York, crime fell, and so did prison numbers, as the authorities invested in neighbourhood policing and effective drug treatment for addicts.    
 
Rather than wasting billions on building more prisons, we should be investing a fraction of this money on what we know works. The right healthcare for the mentally ill so they don’t get caught up in crime; proper treatment for people with drug and drink addictions, which are responsible for so much acquisitive and violent crime; and, tailored community punishments for petty offenders which are proven to be more effective at cutting crime than short prison spells.