Police, Prison and the Prisoner
When a child is born, no one knows what lies in the future or fate of
this baby. The baby is just like an angel born with just a cry and
smile. The glimpse of the baby is so adorable that one does not want to
stop loving him/her.
And when this child starts growing, how its mindset and future will be
carved depends on the parents the baby was born to and the society and
culture he/she grows. The most important part is the socio-economic
background of this child which will define and design the future for
him. No one is born CEO or President, or Thief or Murderer and we all
know it. It all depends on the education which this child receives and
the family values and ethics which are imparted by the Parents and the
Society.
There are instances, where having everything around can still change the
fate of the person. The person can become or change the stance as per
the circumstances and the situation he is facing. Say, for example an
individual wants to be an Engineer but because of the competition or
family pressure or peer pressure he/she chooses profession other the
Engineering. Take one more example. All is going good with Mr.Z and
suddenly he sees opportunity of making tons of money by doing little bit
of fraud here and there, and gets corrupted. Mr.Y is performing well in
his career and suddenly gets caught in a conspiracy where he never was
part of, but because he was at wrong place at wrong time gets caught and
ends up in Jail for a crime which he was not aware off and is now called
criminal.
So, what I am saying is all the people who end up in jails, do we really
try to think as to why they ended up there, what could have been the
reason of their fate which made them take drastic steps or were they
really involved in crimes that turned them into criminal.
According to sentencingproject.org, There are 2 million people in the
United States prisons and jails—a 500% increase over the last 40 years.
There are changes in sentencing law and policy, but no changes in crime
rates, explain most of this increase. These trends have resulted in
prison overcrowding and fiscal burdens on states to accommodate a
rapidly expanding penal system, despite increasing evidence that
large-scale incarceration is not an effective means of achieving public
safety.[]
More people were sent to prisons, sentencing policies of the War on
Drugs era resulted in dramatic growth in incarceration for drug
offenses. Since its official beginning in the 1980s, the number of
Americans incarcerated for drug offenses has skyrocketed from 40,900 in
1980 to 430,926 in 2019. Furthermore, harsh sentencing laws such as
mandatory minimums keep many people convicted of drug offenses in prison
for longer periods of time: in 1986, people released after serving time
for a federal drug offense had spent an average of 22 months in prison.
According to UN WHO, worldwide, 30 million people a year will spend time
in prison. And across all 5 continents, prison populations are growing.
On any given day in 2018, more than 11 million people worldwide,
including at least 410 000 children, were held in prisons – a total
growth of 24% since 2000. While women prisoners are still a small
minority in most countries, their numbers have grown by 50% over the
same time period. Member States resort to imprisonment at very different
degrees. While the average imprisonment rate at the global level stands
below 150 prisoners per 100 000 of the national population, it reaches a
rate of 300–650 prisoners per 100 000 of the national population in more
than 25 Member States (1). HIV, Tuberculosis and viral Hepatitis –
notably hepatitis C virus (HCV) – are of major concern for people
detained in prisons and other closed settings. Available data
demonstrate that 1 in 4 detainees are HCV-positive, and the estimated
global HIV prevalence in prisoners is 3% (UNODC, 2020).
Female prisoners make up 5–10% of the global prison population. They are
more likely to use drugs, and their populations often have higher
prevalence rates for HIV (double or more) when compared to male
prisoners. Globally, the number of incarcerated women is growing,
increasing by an average of 16% in the last 6 years. Women in prison are
vulnerable to gender-based sexual violence. They may engage in risky
behaviours and practices, such as unsafe tattooing and injecting drug
use, and they are more susceptible to self-harm.
So, seeing all the above data from various sources as a society what
should we do. Should we reform Police and train them guide them to
understand real crime and person who committee crime or just let them
fill the Jails/Prisons. Why is our Policing system so harsh and act like
goons, pick anyone for any pity crime, prepare a case with number of
sections under Law and throw them behind bars for becoming more
notorious and real criminals? What is our Judiciary doing, do they
understand the case and try to apply real Law and avoid ruining the life
of a person by sentencing?
Police system is creating more criminals than actual criminals on the
roads or on lose. As I mentioned earlier no one is born criminal, its us
the Society, the Police and corrupt system which makes them criminal. By
sending the person into Prison creates a very different mindset, when he
sees various people with n number of cases and so on and so forth
around. The people in jail surrounding him makes it impossible for that
individual to repent or retrospect or correct what he/she has done.
Now, if say a person is in jail, so what should Police do. Below are few
things which in my perspective should be done to correct the person:
1. Understand why that person took the step which was criminal in
nature.
2. Empathize with the convict and give all support required medically
or otherwise.
3. Have proper orientation programs in Jails where a person can adopt
to them and learn.
4. Introduce rehabilitation programs to correct the mindset of convict,
give them chance to retrospect their mistakes.
5. Rather than filling Prisons, creates facilities where the people
with low sentencing or low criminal record can be shown new way of
life, counsellors help them to understand where they went wrong and
how they can restart their new life in better society.
6. We as Society must accept these people and give them chance to live
and make better life rather than blame and ridicule them and out
them in Hall of Shame.
7. We need to correct our society and environment which is toxic
everywhere, in order to avoid anyone to take harsh or criminal step.
Finally, I want to end up with saying, let’s not be judgmental about
people who land up in Prisons, they were not born as criminals, we as
society turned them into such people. Accept them and reduce populating
prisons where the people are not getting better but are turning bad to
worse and then yes, are actual dangers to the Society.
Police also need to understand the Law, their authority and take proper
precautions when arresting someone and throwing them into Prison. There
are so many cases in the world where convict is actual not a convict, by
mistake of someone else they are serving the prison sentence. Please
listen to all those people, give them chance to explain and show some
humanity. Police needs reforms all over the Globe and their high
headedness and authority needs to be curbed. They are turning into
Lawful criminals and goons.
The proud do not change to improve but defend their position by
rationalizing. Repentance means change, and it takes a humble person to
change. – Ezra Taft Benson