The Curfew order lasts up to six months and the court will decide which hours the offender must remain in their home. The hours can be between two and twelve hours a day.
Advantages
- Keeps track of the offender so if he/she was to break the order they would soon be traced.
- Helps prevent from re-offending.
Disadvantages
- There is nothing physically to stop the offender from breaking the order.
- Can be an expensive order, costing more than £4000 to tag the offender.
Compensation Order
This order is very simple to describe in that it involves the offender paying money to the victim. The offender will have to pay the victim the money within twelve months although this can be extended to three years. The court will consider the offender will be able to pay the money to the victim as there would be no point in the offender paying a large amount of compensation in which they would not be able to come up with. It is common for compensation orders to not be paid but it will result in the offender being re-sentenced. The offender is allowed to continue with their job and/or look after their families during this order.
Advantages
- Punishes the offender by making them pay compensation
- It may make them think twice before committing the crime again
Disadvantages
- Could possibly be seen as a light punishment
- Does not teach the offender anything (rehabilitate)
Community Punishment Order
If sentenced with this order the offender will have to do unpaid work which benefits the community. The amount of hours worked can be a minimum of 40 hours and a maximum of 240 hours. This must be done at a rate of between 5 and 21 hours a week. The offender may continue with their jobs but community service will be done around these hours i.e. at weekends. If the offender fails to comply with this order they will have to go back to court for re-sentencing and are at risk of getting a prison sentence.
Advantages
- Strong order so may teach the offender not to re-offend.
- Hard work for the offender – good punishment
- Benefits the community
Disadvantages
- The offender is not being constantly monitored and will have the chance to re-offend
Custodial Orders
Custodial orders are sentences where the offender is locked up in a prison, young offender institution or secure training centre. An example of a custodial sentence I will be using for my assignment is a mandatory life sentence. Another example of a custodial sentence would be a short term sentence
Mandatory Life Sentence
This sentence will result in the offender being locked up in prison. It does not mean, as one might expect, "imprisonment for life", but a prison sentence of indeterminate length. In many cases the sets the "tariff", or length of term, for prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment. The average sentence is about 15 years before the first parole hearing, although those convicted for serious offenses serve their sentences significantly longer. Prisoners sentenced for life are released on a if the parole board authorises their release.
Advantages
- Keeps the offender from re-offending.
- Protects the public/society.
- Punishes the offender (takes away their freedom).
Disadvantages
- The offender will not be educated on what they have done wrong and may re-offend when released.
- They have interacted with other offenders and may have integrated their behaviour towards crime.
Deterrence – This can be either general or specific. General deterrence refers to the motive of punishment to discourage the community at large from committing such crime. Specific deterrence refers to the discouragement of the actual perpetrator of the crime to re-offend.
Rehabilitation – This is to restore a person. For example, if the offender has committed a crime it will give them the opportunity to redeem his or herself, and to one day go back into society, restored as a law abiding citizen.
Retribution – This is the view that if the offender has committed the crime then punishment should be brought about to the offender. The harshness of prescribed sentences is often in proportion with the crime.
Prevention of Crime/Protection of Society – This is the view that the offender needs to be kept from society in order to protect it. It is felt that the offender could be liable to recommit crimes and should therefore be kept from doing so.
Community rehabilitation order – Rehabilitation
I think that the community rehabilitation order, as indicated in the name is to rehabilitate. I think that by having a probation officer there it will help the offender to realise and reflect upon their actions and maybe see that they have done wrong. If the order has any additions, such as the offender being required to attend a course relating to their problem this will also help as it may eliminate the offenders problem (e.g. drink driving programme may stop the offender from drink driving) The purpose of the Community Rehabilitation Order is to rehabilitate.
Compensation Order – Deterrence
I think that a compensation order is there to teach the offender a lesson, in the attempt that they will learn not to re commit the crime. I think that you can link deterrence with this as it is about discouraging the offender of the crime to re-offend. I think that by having to pay a fine then it will certainly make the offender think twice before re-offending.
Community Punishment Order – Deterrence
I think that the purpose of community service is to make the offender do something that is very hard work outside of their other jobs/ family commitments etc. The courts say that they want the work to be physically and emotionally hard work. I think that this will make the offender think about their actions and they will not want to re commit as to avoid having to do perhaps further community service. I think that the purpose of the Community Punishment Order is to deter.
Mandatory life sentence/long term sentence – Retribution and Prevention of Crime/Protection of Society
I think that retribution is all about punishing the offender for the crime in which they have committed and the level of punishment depends on the harshness of their sentence. Obviously if the offender has committed a crime strong enough to receive a long term prison sentence then they certainly should be punished and the punishment should come harshly. I think this is the best option as it will protect people from this person (e.g. a murderer in prison would be unable to re commit). This would be a strong punishment for the offender as it will take away their freedom. I also believe that it aims to protect society and prevent crime as it takes the offender away from the public so they are unable to harm or disturb anyone else. This will protect the public and prevent further crime from the offender. I think that this aim certainly needs to be looked at for someone who has committed a strong offence such as rape so that the offender is unable to re-offend. I think that the life sentence is to protect the public and punish the offender.
Advantages of Non-custodial Sentences
- Gives the offender the chance to correct themselves and become law abiding citizens
- Punishes the offender
Advantages of Custodial Orders
- Protects the public/society from the offender
- Eliminates the possibility of the offender re-offending.
- Serves as a punishment for the offender and can be a strong punishment depending on the seriousness of the offence. For example, freedom will be lost if the offender commits murder as they would be given a life sentence.
Task 2
This task will involve me answering three questions relating to the prevention and detection of crime.
- Explain what is meant by the phrase Crime Prevention. What is its purpose?
- Identify three key public services that are actively involved in the prevention of crime. Briefly explain their role in crime prevention.
- For each of these three public services identify and illustrate one strategy they have adopted in an attempt to prevent crime, either nationally or locally. Your answer should comment critically on the strategy’s effectiveness in preventing crime.
Crime Prevention is what action is taken to stop crime that can be seen ahead. There are various organisations or groups that are set up to do this but I will talk about some of these groups further in the assignment.
Here are a couple of definitions of crime prevention I have found on the internet:
“Crime prevention is the promotion of those attitudes, activities and behaviours that create and maintain safe and vital communities where crime and delinquency cannot flourish”.
This definition of Crime Prevention was taken from the website;
CRIME PREVENTION IS: “The anticipation, recognition, and appraisal of a crime risk and the initiation of action to remove or reduce it.”
This definition of Crime Prevention was taken from the website;
Probation Officers
Probations officers supervise offenders in the community within in the period of time in which their order lasts. They work for the probation service, which aims to protect the public, punish offenders and make them aware of the effects of their crimes, rehabilitate offenders and reduce re-offending. Probations officers work closely with the police and prison colleagues, as well as with local authorities and education. They also deal with victims of crime, particularly victims who have suffered more serious crimes, such as rape and violence. The aim of probation officers is to make the offender realise the impact of their crimes upon the victims and the effects it can have. Their goal is to help the offender to realise this and to reduce their offending and become more responsible citizens.
A probation officers work involves interviewing the offender at their officer, court or at their home, supervising offenders in the community who are on supervision orders, writing reports combining risk and danger assessments on prisoners to help prison governors and parole and lifer review boards determine when to release a prisoner and on what terms and conditions, preparing records of meetings and accounts of clients' progress reports. These are just a few of their duties as a probation officer.
I think that Probation Officers are certainly worthwhile because many criminals have been made to see the errors of their ways and after time have become law abiding citizens.
Police
The Police are perhaps the biggest organisation in crime prevention. They go about preventing crime in two main ways.
They patrol the streets, eliminating any potential crime and give advice/talks to members of the public over the effects of crime, what it does to people and not to persuaded to take part in any crime etc.
The police also give out advice on crime prevention to the public. They make various trips to visit groups, such as schools and local communities. An example would be the police visiting schools giving talks about the dangers of drugs and it effects, in the attempt to persuade children to stay clear from drugs.
Neighbourhood Watch
Neighbourhood Watch is the country's largest voluntary organisation with over 133,000 schemes involving more than 10 million people.
One of the strategies of the Police is developing partnerships that will reduce crime and the fear of it.
Neighbourhood Watch meets these criteria and is the longest running partnership with which the police have been involved. In many areas it has helped to improve the quality of life of the people who live there.
Neighbourhood watch will involve neighbours working together, along with the police to reduce crime in their area. Some of the things which Neighbourhood watch do to prevent crime is to hold regular meetings with the police who are their to advise and help. Talks are held over recent concerns and areas in need of focus. Each neighbour aims to look out for one another’s property and make sure crime taking place is acted upon immediately.
Customs
HM Customs and Excise are a public service which aims to reduce crime. This involves the prevention of illegal items/substances passing into the UK from foreign countries. Types of crime which are prevented here are drug smuggling and illegal alcohol and tobacco imports.
I have shown an example of how customs prevent crime by including an article regarding illegal meat imports (see appendix 1)
This is what the official HM Customs and Excise site had to say about themselves as a public service
“Excellence in public service”
“Like all Government organisations, we are committed to continually improving the quality of service we provide. We do this by stating clearly the levels of service you should be able to expect, and through a Public Service Agreement which, among other things, aims to make it as easy as possible for individuals and businesses to understand and comply with their obligations.
We are a multi-winner of the Government sponsored Charter Mark scheme and are committed to achieving and maintaining the high levels of service the Charter Mark sets out.”
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One of the most successful strategies that has been used by Customs is to use dogs to detect various different substances which may be illegal. Drugs have been the main illegal substance in which the detector dogs have had the most success. For a full description of the detector dogs (see appendix 2).
I think that the use of detector dogs in airports and ports have been a very successful ways of preventing illegal substances being brought into the UK. Unlike us a detector dog is able to detect someone who maybe carrying an illegal substance and will be able to bring it to the attention of the people working with the dog. Figures show that detector dogs have been priceless asset to HM Customs and Excise and unlike modern technology they are not at a stupidly high price.
Bibliography
Websites
http://www.prospects.ac.uk/cms/ShowPage/Home_page/p!eLaXi
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