Many dangerous individuals are charged and sentenced to be kept within prisons all across the United Kingdom. It is imperative that there is a high level of maintained security to keep these individuals from escaping back into the public and possibly becoming a risk to society. But what would happen if there was no security within prisons and what effect would this have on society? In this reportI will be evaluating the need for security and control within a custodial environment.
An important factor of custodial security are the physical barriers in place to stop dangerous individuals from escaping back into society. Examples of physical security can be high exterior walls, locked cells, bars on the windows, fences with razor wire and many other methods of physical security. Ministry of Justice (2012)
One example of how these physical precautions have had a positive effect on keeping inmates behind bars could be down to the number of escapes over a period of time. With the use of improved physical security, the number of successful escapes from UK prisons has dropped from 53 in 1996/7 to 4 in 2011/12. This shows the importance of physical security in a custodial environment as it has had a detrimental effect on the number of successful escapes made by inmates across the country. Through the use of physical security, this has reduced the number of escapes from 1996-2012 by 49 cases. Ministry of Justice (2012)
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Another positive reason for having security within a custodial environment could be through the use of dynamic security, adjudications based on violent acts has decreased from 2010 to 2014 across the country. It is important for inmates to feel safe and secure within their prison environment. One major way of this happening could be through the Prison Officers sharing a good relationship with the prisoners. By having a good rapport with the inmates, this could lead to a drop in anti-social behaviour by inmates if they feel comfortable with Prison Officers and their surroundings. Ministry of Justice (2014)
An example of how dynamic security has had a positive effect on reducing violent behaviour within a custodial behaviour can be shown through the reduction of adjudications held based on violence by prisoners. The number of adjudications in 2010 was on average 133 cases in an average sized prison (roughly 700 inmates), in 2014 this figure had dropped to 105 cases. This is a marked drop of 28 cases on average per prison over the four year period. This shows that through the use of dynamic security, that by having a good understanding between the prisoner and prison officer can lead to the prisoner feeling more comfortable in their surroundings and less likely to lash out violently against a member or prison staf or even another prisoner. Ministry of Justice (2014)
But on the other hand, a lack of Prison Officers clearly highlight the risk of lowered security when a riot took place at the Ford Open Prison, in West Sussex, on New Year’s Eve 2011. According to the Daily Mirror newspaper “Just two warders were on duty as crazed inmates torched buildings. The 22 hours of mayhem only ended when scores of riot officers were drafted in.” Apparently the riot started when the two Prison Officers tried to breathalyze some of the intoxicated inmates after they were suspected of drinking smuggled alcohol. The inmates soon took control of the open prison and started fires within the prison. It wasn’t until 22 hours later when a planned assault took place with large numbers of Officers in riot gear to gain control of the situation. Daily Mirror (2012)
The article shows how the lack of Prison Officers compromised the security of the open prison which led to a 22 hour drink fuelled riot. Because the security was compromised, inmates were able to take control and could have possibly caused harm to themselves or others by setting fire to the building. This shows how important having a security presence at even open prisons is as shown by the example of how only two prison officers were left to secure and control a building of up to 40 inmates. Open prisons already have a lower standard of physical security as it is so it is important to point out the facts that minimal security can lead to dangerous situations arising. Daily Mirror (2012)
Another issue could be down linked to the one above as the number of inmates in prisons in the United Kingdom are increasing as the number of Prison Officers is reducing. From a report by the Ministry of Justice on the 16th of October 2015, the current male and female prison population is at a total of 86,145 inmates all across the country. Now this figure last year was at 85,541. In over a year the prison population has grown by 604 inmates from prisons across the country. The useable operational capacity of prisons in the United Kingdom is only 88,039 at this curent time, our prisons will start to become full and overcrowded if the number of inmates continues to increase. Ministry of Justice (2015)
Linking this to the issue of reductions in Prison Officers, the continual rise of inmates could lead to a lack of control in not only the Open Prisons, but also in the larger higher category Prisons. This is a high security risk if there is not enough Prison Officers to maintain control within the United Kingdom’s prisons, if not this could lead to further riots and damage to prison property or even injury to inmates and Officers alike.
In conclusion, I do believe security in custodial environments to be detrimental to not only the wellbeing of the inmates but more importantly protecting society from dangerous individuals who could have a serious effect on the public if there wasn’t security there to keep them secured in prison. Using examples of how physical security has reduced the level of successful escapes and also how dynamic security has helped reduce violent behaviour within the prisons is a clear example of how important security in a custodial environment is and why it is important to maintain a high standard of it to reduce the risk of danger to society.
