Calrissian.com : Politics : Policy Section : Crime

Despite many tens of billions of pounds of expenditure over the last few years, crime remains rampant across the UK. The Govt. may wish to portray the image that crime is falling, but most people realise this is not the real truth. Contrary to popular belief, murder rates are much the same as they always have been. However, 'everyday' crime such as street robbery, car theft, and house burglary are at record levels. Why is this the case, despite the fact that prison numbers are at an all time high of more than 75,000 ? Are we locking away enough of the criminal fraternity, or are we jailing the 'wrong' people ?

Proposals

Introduction

The question is this, do people who break the law get what they deserve, or does the way in which the state manages criminals require serious change ? I believe that the current system is failing. It not only fails to deal adequately with the scum that we lock up, but it fails to protect society in general.

A few ethical/philosophical issues to begin with

Central policy : People have the right to do as they wish, in the privacy of their own homes - so long as it does not adversely affect the well being of other individuals. The state should not be unduly interfering with what people are doing in their everyday lives. A mere few decades ago, to be male and gay was illegal. The point is that the 'State' was interferring in matters in which it should not be concerned. Things have socially progressed in the UK over the past century, but still the UK Legal system is somewhat arrogant.

Lets briefly look at a few issues

-Drugs : What business does the 'State' have in dicating to people what they can do with their bodies ? If an adult wishes to smoke for instance (ordinary tobacco or cannabis), then it is nobodies business but that persons.

-Sex laws : If two people wish to enter into a sexual contract, that is their personal choice. Why should anyone else have the right to criminalise someone who wishes to earn money from providing a sexual service to someone who wishes to buy such a service ? The notion that by making prositution illegal will make it 'not happen' is farcicle. Women (and some men) have earned an income from sex for centuries (if not millenia), and it is simple a waste of time to even begin to attempt to prevent it.

-Freedom of Speech. The advent of 'political correctness' which began in the 1980's has lead to some really crazy issues arising. Today, any mention of racial differences is seen as not a good thing to dare mention. Any person who is against mass immigration into the UK is now labelled as a 'racist'. The issue of asylum seekers - and economic migrants is a massive issue, but one that is being held back from serious debate.
The advent of the net' has made it impossible for the govt. to regulate/prevent any individual from publishing to the world. This should be seen as a good thing.

Special note....

Despite being in the 21'st century, a significant chunk of the UK population still seem to have something of a problem with sexual matters, and those of personal freedom. There are those that wish that drinking was outlawed, 'gay sex' was still illegal, and interacial marriages be banned. Yet the UK has progressed, and its time to move a more steps forward - and I believe my ideas are supported by the masses.

The Crusader attitude is one of personal liberty. Some people may well think its contradictory to believe that making cannabis legal is okay, but that prisoners should find prison life infinately less comfortable. I believe that a new attitude to the justice system is desperately needed. People should have the right to do as they wish so long as they don't negatively impact the lives of others. Those that do break the law need to be more severely dealt with.

As follows is a summary listing of some key proposals that the Crusader Justice philosophy is based upon.

Crime Types

Theft will be treated will the contempt that it deserves. In this country, most householders take out house insurance on contents, almost purely as a financial protection against being robbed.

Repeat offenders will be locked away for 10 yrs as standard, with no parole.

Lets take the example of a serial house robber.

Current rules>>>

A common piece of scum is arrested for the first time aged 19. We can guess quite safely that they have already probably raided at least a dozen or so homes in their locality, causing thousands of pound of losses to families. At this initial conviction stage they get a mere sentence of community service, or at most 3-6 months. Their second conviction - at which point they've probably broken into 50+ homes, they are sentenced to a further 9-12 months. A third conviction will currently lead to a usual 3yr sentence - although lets note that the offender will probably get released before serving most of this time.

A suggested scheme - taking the case again of the house invader.
First offense : 1yr
Second offence : 5yrs
Third offence : 10yrs

*Some of you may be saying '... 10 yrs for house robbery, but thats more than people who are convicted of rape at present'. House robbery and a number of other 'everyday' crimes are greatly underplayed in how they destroy the lives of UK citizens.

Sentence time : The minimum sentence time to be served will be fixed at 100% for ALL serious crimes - including all theft. Why should someone be released early because they 'behaved' or said 'sorry' ? Huh, I don't get it, and I know most other 'good' UK people agree.
If someone causes trouble whilst in prison, then they should indeed have their sentence increased - with the local prison board having authority to extend such periods to maximum of 30%.

The notion of parole and being released early for 'good behaviour' should be renounced. It is a gross insult to those who have been attacked in the street, to the children who have been abused, to the families that have had their houses invaded and ransacked.

Prison Capacity

Prison capacity will be increased as required. Currently, all projections anticipate a prison capacity of around 95,000-105,000 by 2015. This represents just a fraction of 1% of the total population.

Quite frankly, if it becomes necessary to lock up 150,000 - or more, scum in the nations jails, in order that street robbery, house burglary, child abuse, etc, are curtailed, then it should be supported. Why would anyone argue against

UK Stats : (to be developed)

Contrast to America : ---

Financial implications of higher prison numbers.

Actually it makes sense to lock serial offenders up for far longer periods. The cost of catching, taking to trial serial offenders is massive. It is well known that most crimes are committed by a very small number of people. There are criminals who are almost entirely responsible for all the robberies/theft in entire neighbourhoods. The authorities are even aware of who these people, yet sadly lack the legal power to send these scum away for more than short periods of time. If most serial offenders are locked away, then costs in other areas will greatly falls - such as court costs, and general policing of the country.

Prison 'life style'

It has always astounded me the life style that many of today's' prisoners receive. They are allowed TV, provided with a variety of leisure facilities, and other 'luxuries' that many people in the real world are not able to afford. How the hell did we get to this point ? How did it come to be that rapist, murderers, and common scum who ruin the lives on hundreds of thousands of good UK citizens enjoy such a comfortable prison lifestyle.

The following are a few of my 'prison standards', a policy that will make criminals think twice about committing crime 'if' they get to enter the outside world ever again.

-Personal possessions for offenders in prison will be removed. Why should people who rape, steal, attack, and abuse children be allowed to have luxuries whilst locked away ?
-Visitors. Why should people convicted of rape and other serious EVIL crimes be allowed to have visitors ?
-TV, games, and other 'leisure activities'. Why should people that steal, abuse, etc, be given access to books, TV, and other such things ?
-Meals. Why should people that have hurt others be given meals that are anything better than the level of 'dire' ?
-Basic amenities. For instance, why should prisoners have lighting ? When the sun sets, prisoners should be in the dark, they should not be enjoying their evening, relaxing reading books, watching TV etc.

-Drugs. Why should prisoners have access to legal and illegal drugs ? No tea, no chocolate, no smoking, no drinking, no cocaine. The latter items may seem obvious to some, but access to drugs is often easier in prison than in the outside world. As an extra, ALL prisoners should be tested (forcibly if necessary) for drugs. It is simply not acceptable to have drug addicts/users in the standard prison environment. Such people need to be treated in specialist facilities, and then returned to ordinary prison once they are 'clean'.

Direct Retribution - personal possessions.

Anyone who is convicted of stealing for instance, whether it be street robbery, from a shop/business, should have all their 'valuable' goods taken away. For example, lets take away their TV's, their PC's, their cookers, everything that is of value. These goods should then be sold, and proceeds go directly to the victims of the original crime/s.

*Now, some of you may already be thinking, '...say the offender is the father in a family, should we still take away their TV's etc ?'. I say HELL YES, absolutely. The families of criminals are going to have to realise that if they choose to associate themselves with people that attack others in the street, and steal from society in general, any fellow householders are also going to suffer directly.

Fraud, and class bias.

Whether on a personal scale, or on a grand 'corporate' level, Fraud should also be treated in a tough manner. Why should professional 'executives' who steal millions in assets from large companies be treated any easier than the person that steals a bottle of Whiskey from your local supermarket ? There remains a lot of class bias in the UK justice system, and this needs to be both recognised and dealt with. Confiscation of assets MUST take place, fraudsters should pay the price for their crimes, with the state taking away their homes if necessary, to pay back those whom they stole from.

The current justice system fails UK society. There is very little in the way of respect for victims, and indeed those convicted of crimes receive more financial and social support than the very people they have hurt.

The UK people are tired of being attacked in the streets, having their cars stolen, and their homes ransacked by common scum. There is a massive ever increasing anger amongst the good people in this country. They are sick of things as they are, they see serial offenders - who commit hundreds of crimes, and who get off with nothing more than a few months in prison. They are disgusted by seeing people who try to defend their homes jailed for 'abusing the attacker', things have to change.

None of the current mainstream political parties seem to show any concern about mainstream crime. Yet the public are aching for real justice, real retribution against the scum of society... the sick twisted people that need to be severely dealt with. If we need to double or even triple prison capacity over the next few decades in order to make the streets free of common thugs, so be it.

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