Crime to take centre stage at Green Party conference
17th Oct 2004
Party to take strong line on crime prevention into general election
For the first time ever, crime will have a dominant place on the agenda at the Green Party's conference, to be held in Weston Super Mare this week (1).
One of the two main policy debates at the conference will be on the party's proposals on crime prevention and justice (2). Following the Green Party's re-branding this year as "the party of Real Progress", the conference is expected to adopt a paper called "Real Progress on reducing crime."
The party's home affairs spokesperson, London human rights and criminal barrister Hugo Charlton, explained today:
"The proposals will take a radical approach to crime, including a complete shake-up of the justice system (3) and community policing."
Rehabilitation policies "costly in the short term, a sound investment in the longer term"
Mr Charlton, who is also the party's executive chair and registered leader, said that prison currently wasn't working: "Locking someone up hurts them. But it doesn't help repair any of the damage caused by the crime they've committed. Therefore we must focus on more creative ways of handling offenders, with the emphasis on rehabilitation. It will cost more to rehabilitate offenders properly, but it will be worth it because it will reduce crime."
He continued: "We must ensure that the prison environment serves the purpose of rehabilitation, rather than being a school for criminals, which is often how it works for petty thugs and violent offenders especially. There are strong grounds to believe that harsh treatment in prison makes a violent person more inclined to violence.
"Low self-esteem is often a factor in turning a person to crime. Prison often serves to lower an offender's self-esteem, and that can be highly counter-productive. Many people in prison at present are simply not capable of feeling a sense of responsibility for what they've done. They need rebuilding as a social person."
Mr Charlton said that reforms in the criminal justice system must be paralleled by policies to build stronger communities.
"Pushbike policing" gets results
The Greens' proposals will also include greater emphasis on community policing, including innovative ways of catching offenders. Hugo Charlton explained: "Some police forces in the UK and abroad are having great success with pushbike policing. They're finding bikes are often much better than cars at getting to the sort of inaccessible places where a lot of crimes are committed, like back alleys. Having a higher proportion of officers on bikes can significantly improve the deterrent effect of police visibility on the streets, and at the same time increase the rate of arrest for certain types of offence (4)."
The proposals will also include much tighter controls on guns and a new offence of "hate crime."
Conference Notes
1. Winter Gardens, Weston Super Mare, 21-24 October 2004. Media pack including media highlights available by email on request to Green Party press office, press@greenparty.org.uk, 020 7561 0282.
2. The other will be "Real Progress on social welfare: a truly inclusive society," addressing a wide range of social welfare issues including disability, family courts, youth services, mental illness, care work and ageing.
3. This will include a proposed Department of Justice and Crime Prevention at different levels of government, which would strengthen traditional methods of crime prevention with an element of "social crime prevention." There would also be Departments of Justice which, as well as the trdaitional court systems, would play a stronger role in victim support.
