Today I read a shocking article in The Times about our prison service. Sure, I knew our prisons were fiercely overcrowded but not to the extent that convicted criminals were immediately freed to ease crowding. No wonder there is very little faith in the justice system.
It is a shambles that the jail sentences of those who terrorise our streets are determined by the population of our prisons - it should be the other way round.
This news will further undermine public confidence in the justice system. More needs to be done so that people see justice to be done. As the Deputy Young Mayor of Newham, this notion was the main focus of Newham Youth Council's response to a recent green paper on engaging communities, that we sent to Jack Straw. We highlighted the fact that many people do not report crime because they feel nothing will be done about it. This perception needs to be changed if we are to tackle crime and the fear of crime effectively.
We have already started that process. Since September 2008, lawbreakers doing community payback have worn fluorescent orange jackets to increase their visibility to the public. Perhaps we could take this one step further and publish recent convictions and sentences for crimes in local leaflets and magazines.
Justice needs to be done, and seen to be done.
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