New Zealand has 19 operating prisons. The New Zealand Government therefore, funds 19 prisons. Each of these prisons pose an average, annual cost of $91 000.
Do the math. That’s a lot of money that we as the New Zealand taxpayer are, some might say wasting, on derelict souls. Add to that base rate, the unexpected costs of incarceration – cost of riot clean-up; cost of increased staffing to help maintain order; cost of damage done by prisoners, to their own living quarters, often with instruments made from items, given to them, in an effort to benefit, their own standard of living.
On October 1st, 1995, the Department of Corrections was formed. Its annual budget is $1.1 billion, with total assets worth around $1.9 billion. That’s a lot of money to invest in people who the public have already condemned; then to make that battle appear even more futile, are the recidivism statistics: 70% of all released prisoners reoffend within the next two years. That sounds bad. This sounds worse: 52% of those released, supposedly rehabilitated prisoners, return to prison within five years.
So what the hell is the good in locking them up then later having them return to society, only to then, have them complete the cycle?
Oddly, these statistics are not what’s bothering me. No. It’s the fact that these criminals, some who have committed transgressions that us regular folk would see as downright unconscionable, following a light-hearted conviction, are allowed to continue their existence more or less as they please, while ignorant radicals continually lobby on their behalf for an increased standard of living.
I wonder if these people realize, how many other people, how many struggling families in NZ are forced to live in abject squalor because they have nobody to lobby for them.
Admittedly, the lobbyists aren’t even the worst offenders in this case. Driven by our own sense of senselessness, it’s the two most filthy words in the human vernacular running the show this time: Political Correctness. We as a nation believe that we really should give a damn about the mistreatment of others – even if they are pond-scum. We think that we suppose we probably should care about stuff that isn’t even really worth caring about, because it seems to be the fashion at the moment.
Truly, and this is perhaps to be my most controversial statement ever, I believe that when a person commits a deed against mankind which is viewed by those in higher places, to be an outrightly deplorable, therefore jail-able transgression, that person has effectively foregone his or her right to be treated like a human being. Thus human rights no longer apply. We need to publicise that fact. Granted, the ‘throw ‘em in a hole and forget about the bastards’ philosophy, should only apply to the worst offenders, but let’s be fair, most moderate offenders don’t cause a great deal of trouble.
Honestly, it can’t go on like this. The country is in enough financial dismay as it is, without pouring money down a tube to feed the lowest echelon of society. To circumvent any PC issues, there needs to be plaques in every visible corner of a prison: ‘Misbehave Even Once, You Will No Longer Be Treated As A Person’. Put them up high, too.
Solitary Confinement. What a fine couple of words. If inmates act like idiots, throw them in, slide under the door a tray of gruel three times daily; if they want to act like shit-heads, let’s treat them as such. If they like to break their toilet, let them defecate in the corner. If they like to rip up their mattress, let them sleep on the floor. If they like to break mirrors and cut themselves for attention, let them bleed. Hunger strike? Tell me, Mr Prison Official, are you hungry? Then don’t worry about it. He’ll eat when he’s ready.
People think that unless prisoners are content, they will act out. This makes no sense. They shouldn’t be content. It’s prison. Living there is supposed to be discouraged. It’s not though, is it? Why do you think recidivism is on the rise? Prison is too damned pleasant. Still, despite enjoying better living standards than a lot of NZs decent citizens, our precious little convicts find the time to riot, start fires and ultimately, cause the staff a lot of trouble that they don’t need, let alone deserve.
So why continue throwing money at a problem when it’s having no effect? If anything, I’d say their funding should be cut each time they cause unrest. People need to be so terrified by the notion of winding up in incarceration, that the very thought of committing a crime is tantamount to dying a painful death. July 2011, smoking was banned. That’s a start, but really it’s nothing. Hell, even us law-abiding smokers can’t light up anywhere except our on own back lawn anymore.
We are a soft nation, this much is fact. Simply telling ourselves to harden up, might not be a satisfactory solution. So how about we just do it..?