As much as I support the idea of the ultimate punishment for the most serious crimes (when properly proven), I do wish people would stop saying stupid things like this. Many people are in jail for reasons that do not deserve the death penalty by any standard, not to mention that miscarriages of justice do exist.

“I still think they shouldn’t have Tv’s and radios in their cells but piped indoctrination”

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What is the difference?

I am happy to pay the cost of one bullet, far cheaper, and permanent. It is a fucking JAIL, not a hotel

based on the premise that only the state has the right to suspend someones freedom

That’s still the case as it is the state, via our legal system, that does the suspending. The way the jail is operated is – or should be – unimportant.

Instances like that would take some beating but I reckon that reducing such behaviour is about as much as we can realistically hope for. The inmates have little to do other than sus out any weaknesses a guard may have & will exploit these ruthlessly.

My objection to privately run prisons has always been an ideological one based on the premise that only the state has the right to suspend someones freedom & therefore it should not offload its responsibilities for the well being of the offender on to third parties. Before my fellow right wingers rush for rope & a convenient tree I believe that the role of prisons is to keep an offender away from the community he/she preys on for as long as is possible but as humanely as possible.

It does seem I was wrong but whilst Serco shapes up as a good manager of prisons the temptation to let standards slip will always be there as long as profit is the motive. If the state opts out of management of these facilities it needs to maintain a high level of accountability for what will usually be the lowest tenderer.

When will we get a public service broadcaster who isn’t such a lefty mouthpiece?

No wonder RNZ are living on borrowed time.

@ Rex, I agree, whats the problem with a desert and PPV TV if it keeps the inmates subdued and relatively happy gotta be better than having to pay the State Prison Guard to bring them P, Pot and Porn….

Serco, while by no means perfect, are by far and away the best private prison operators in the market and the government’s choice to appoint them is a good one.

But like any private company they’re motivated by profit, so their effectiveness depends on their KPIs. So provided KPIs include (as they do here in WA, where Serco runs a prison) things like lower assault rates, lower complaints, more prisoners passing courses and so on, Serco, in my experience, runs a prison which is better than anything the state can come up with.

I believe in Britain the government included in KPIs a reduction in recidivism (can’t be done in WA as Serco only run a medum security facility and so prisoners pass back to the state and then to the dreadful state-run parole system). As a result, Serco started delivering post-release assistance to prisoners, aimed at ensuring they didn’t reoffend. And the taxpayer only paid if they succeeded. Brilliant all round, I’d say.

Public service unions such as teachers and prison officers are in a difficult position. Their very existence is all about patch protection, but the fields in which they work impact upon third parties – children, offenders – in ways that most private sector jobs do not. It’s a fine line to walk, then, protecting your members’ jobs – as you’re paid to do – without damaging the third parties. Sadly, most seem to step well off the line, as the union has certainly done in this case.

Simple, fairly cost effective, and may actually work!

And if you were a union who’s income was derived from having lots of prison officers, wouldn’t that mean you had a vested interest in keeping lots of criminals locked up?

Works both ways. Actually it doesn’t – private operators can have contractual rewards for lower recidivism.

YEAH!!!! How dare a private company try to make a profit….

Bad behaviour causes one to be put into the lower class, where for example there is no TV, food is more basic, cells have no personalisation. These are segregated from the rest of the community.

Good behaviour – by which I mean positive, role model behaviour as opposed to just not being bad – is rewarded with more privileges, better food, more scope for personalisation in cells etc.

After all, in real life it is those that work hard and contribute that get rewarded, so why should it be any different in prison?