CAMERON ON CRIME AND PUNISHMENT

*A NEW TV PROGRAMME SERIES!

VIOLENT CRIME AND PUNISHMENT!!

SPONSORED BY HM GOVERNMENT!!!

                                                                   BBC NEWS

21 October 2012 Last updated at 09:23

David Cameron to outline 'tough' law and order stance

"The prime minister is to say Britain needs a new "tough but intelligent" approach to law and order in a speech.

David Cameron is expected to say a combination of both tough prison sentences and lighter rehabilitation methods is necessary".


This is what OUT OF MIND has to say to Mr Cameron

We punish convicted people to give them a taste of their own medicine, to discourage them from doing it again and to discourage others from following their example.

If we really want to discourage others why do we keep the facts about punishment for crime so low key?

Someone is arrested on suspicion of committing a crime. They are charged and at some time later – usually several months later - they go to court. If found Guilty and a custodial sentence is handed out they then disappear … until they re-appear.

The media make their decision as to the amount of coverage they give to the arrest, the charge, the trial and the sentence. Sometimes they make a big fuss over it all. Other times it’s just a paragraph in some newspapers. None of the media ever follow through and give effective coverage to the punishment – and that’s the part that’s supposed to discourage others.

Let’s take a typical case that would nowadays not normally excite the media. Gang linked knife crime. It is so common that it rarely gets headlines. Someone is sent to prison for knifing someone else and that’s about it.

Now, who should we be trying to discourage from copying this behaviour? Presumably other young men who carry knives (or are seriously considering carrying knives) and who participate in gang warfare. Do we see them scanning the pages of The Guardian, The Times, The Daily Telegraph? Or any other newspaper? Or other media? Of course there will be some coverage but will the target audience ever see it? Even if the arrest is splashed in the media there will be no pictures of the accused because that would prejudice the trial. Pictures come very much later, when the slow-moving cogwheels of justice find an opportunity to schedule the trial and then, if a Guilty verdict is reached, pictures might be shown. Ironically the low reading ability of this target group may make the use of pictures essential. Often details of the sentence are not decided until later so coverage that might have a chance of catching the eye of another potential knife criminal is not written for them, is not displayed with them in mind and its availability is stretched out over so much time that an incident is simply forgotten.

I venture to suggest that the low-lifes who think it perfectly reasonable to stick a knife into someone for something as trivial as saying something that is taken as a slight or insult or for simply daring to walk on the wrong street, do not regularly keep up to date with the news of how other low-lifes are faring under the legal system. Yet their fate is supposed to influence them!

For all practical purposes the present system does nothing to make potential wrongdoers aware of the likely outcome of crime. What’s to be done about it? Let’s look at the heading again.


*A NEW TV PROGRAMME SERIES!

VIOLENT CRIME AND PUNISHMENT!!

SPONSORED BY HM GOVERNMENT!!!

This would be a development of the Crimewatch programme but its focus would be entirely on crimes of violence. It would not try to catch criminals as Crimewatch does. It would give details of crimes, details of court proceedings, details of those found guilty and details of their punishment. Pictures of those found guilty would be used. It would be called CRIME AND PUNISHMENT.

No attempt would be made to ‘understand’ the criminals or to excuse their actions (there are always others who will do this). The raison d’être of the programme would be to show people what are all the outcomes of committing a crime of violence and it would do so in such a way that young people would not find heroes amongst the criminals and criminal acts presented. The programme would go inside prisons and would interview former prisoners who are prepared to state that the experience is not pleasant. It would also show victims and their injuries if they were willing to appear.

The aim of the programme would be to deter young people from taking violent action and from carrying weapons.

The stance of the programme would be harsh and an entirely unsympathetic towards criminals.

The aim would be to present the blunt facts of violent crime and punishment with the explicit intention of deterring people from committing such acts.

The weekly programme would be sponsored by HM Government.

*OUT OF MIND LIVES IN HOPE