Keep suspended sentences: Vic report

Community safety could be compromised if suspended sentences are removed in Victoria, a report says. Source: AAP

REOFFENDING by criminals is likely to worsen and lead to compromised community safety if suspended sentences are completely removed in Victoria, a new report says.

Thousands of extra people will require supervision, monitoring and treatment when suspended sentences are abolished next year, the report prepared for Catholic Social Services Victoria says.

However community corrections services may not be able to cope with the expected influx of offenders.

"Without adequate services, treatment and support, reoffending outcomes are likely to worsen and community safety will therefore be compromised," the report says.

Suspended sentences have already been abolished in the higher courts, but sentences for all other crimes will be removed by September 1, 2014.

However, other sentencing options such as community-based orders will be available for judges and magistrates.

The report says Victoria's prisons are operating at 104 per cent capacity and it's questionable whether the new prison beds funded by the government will be able to meet the expected increase in prisoners.

The cost of putting offenders into community-based orders instead of suspended sentences would be more than $50 million a year, and higher if even some offenders were instead jailed, the report says.

Victorian County Court Judge Liz Gaynor said suspended sentences were an incredibly useful way to prevent reoffending.

Launching the report, Judge Gaynor said jail was not a good deterrent and putting offenders in jail often made them worse, not better.

She said suspended sentences had not been properly explained to the community, and were used by judges in cases where the success of rehabilitation was high.

There was enormous concern about overcrowding in Victorian prisons, she said.

"I certainly don't want to make a dire prediction, but the situation as I understand it is a dangerous one," she said.

Liana Buchanan, of the Federation of Community Legal Centres Victoria, said there is already evidence the system wasn't coping.

"The data tells us that serious incidents in the (prison) system are increasing - prisoner-prisoner assaults, prisoner-staff assaults, self-mutilations and self-harm in the system are on the increase, deaths in custody we know increased substantially last year, including suicides," she said at the launch.

"We also know that an overcrowded system has even less capacity to focus on rehabilitation."

The report makes four recommendations, including maintaining suspended sentences and providing alternative sentences for vulnerable offenders.

Anda sedang membaca artikel tentang

Keep suspended sentences: Vic report

Dengan url

http://tempatistirahatan.blogspot.com/2013/12/keep-suspended-sentences-vic-report.html

Tempat Istirahat