Texas model cuts costs and prison numbers
We welcome Gaby Hinsliff's call for 'a more enlightened approach to cutting crime' (Republican Texas is a surprising model for solving the UK's prison crisis – but it just might work, 16 May). To achieve this and deal with the problem of prison overcrowding, we do not need to build more prisons. Community sentences require more resources so they can constructively challenge offending behaviour while keeping convicted individuals in touch with their responsibilities to families and communities.
For those in prison, this would also allow for the application of the Texas model – a promising form of prison reform that is not only cost-saving but has also reduced crime and recidivism rates in that state. Its success lies significantly in prioritising incarceration for violent offences.
It also emphasises in-prison and community-based treatment programmes for non-violent offenders, many of whose crimes intersect with substance abuse and/or mental health problems.
Several other US states have found the Texas model fits with their wish to curtail prison numbers without jeopardising public safety.Maurice VanstoneEmeritus professor of criminology and criminal justice, Swansea UniversityAnita Kalunta-CrumptonProfessor of administration of justice, Texas Southern UniversityPhilip Priestley Independent scholar
As welcome as it is that the justice secretary, Shabana Mahmood, has acknowledged the prison crisis, her solutions treat symptoms, not causes (Jail time for recalled offenders to be limited to free up prison places, 14 May). Limiting recall periods to 28 days may provide temporary relief, but the admission that prisons in England and Wales will still be 9,000 places short by 2028 exposes the futility of building our way out of this crisis.
We cannot continue this cycle of emergency releases and quick fixes. The government must prioritise evidence-based alternatives: community sentences, electronic monitoring and intensive supervision programmes that cost less and reduce reoffending more effectively than prison.
Most importantly, we need investment in prevention – addressing the social determinants of crime through education, mental health services and employment support. The current approach is both financially unsustainable and morally bankrupt.James StoddartProject coordinator, the Oswin Project
Have an opinion on anything you've read in the Guardian today? Please email us your letter and it will be considered for publication in our letters section.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Mail
8 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Pictured: The 'small' knife teen was carrying when he was detained by police officer later sacked over 'aggressive' arrest
The 'small' knife carried by a teen later arrested by PC Lorne Castle, who was sacked for showing him a lack of 'courtesy and respect', has been pictured for the first time. The double-bladed 8inch weapon had a Stanley blade on one end, with a retractable serrated blade on the other. The weapon fell out of a 15-year-old boys waistband on January 27, 2024, while PC Castle was arresting him for two alleged assaults in Bournemouth town centre. The ex Dorset officer was dismissed by the force after an independent disciplinary tribunal found he had committed gross misconduct in relation to the arrest. A video clip of the arrest, released by the force on Tuesday, showed the officer tackling the boy, who claimed he needed the knife 'for work', to the ground. In a moment of anger, Mr Castle is seen taking hold of the teenager's face and throat while repeatedly swearing and shouting at him. The boy can be heard shouting and crying 'what have I done' and 'what did I do' before the officer shouts 'stop screaming like a little b****, do you understand that? Shut up'. However, retired chief inspector Chris Amey, who is backing PC Castle, said the weapon shows the presence faced by officers on a daily basis, quipping he was 'embarrassed to have ever worn their uniform.' Referring to the knife, Mr Amey posted: 'Here's the "SMALL" knife that just happened to fall out of a "boy's" waistband whilst being detained for assaulting two members of the public.' Mr Amey said he described it as 'small' because this is how it was detailed by Dorset Police's barrister as well colleagues. 'If we are lucky to catch someone with a knife actually on them whilst committing an assault on two members of the public, we'll let him go and sack the officer for finger pointing and calling him hurty words,' he wrote. 'You literally couldn't make it up. Embarrassed to have ever worn their uniform.' He added: 'The boy could have quite conceivably used that knife and what's to say he would not have gone on to use that knife if Lorne had not discovered it. 'This is driving junior rank and file mad because they have seen their colleague take a knife off the street and how he has been treated by their leaders. 'I've been told by a serving officer that last Friday and Saturday night in the town centre officers were approached by youths who said 'there is nothing you can do to us because we'll get you sacked.'' Just months before making an over-zealous arrest that led to his sacking, Mr Castle had thrown himself into the River Avon in the middle of the night. A vulnerable elderly lady clinging to a tiny parcel of land needed his help so he stripped off his stab vest and threw himself into the icy water to save her in the line of duty. PC Castle knew regulations were clear that he should not enter the river - but without much thought he went in carrying a life ring as her terrified family watched on. 'Do you know what was going through my mind at that time? If I hit her with the ring, or she attempts to get it and gets dragged away I'm up for manslaughter because professional standards will tell me 'you weren't supposed to go in. You were trying to be a hero'', he said today. 'That is the world we operate in', he told the Telegraph. However, despite the risk of his own arrest, he did it anyway and would later win a national bravery award for saving the woman. The ex-police constable had since admitted misconduct in relation to the arrest. He confessed to breaching the standards of professional behaviour relating to authority, respect and courtesy, conduct and use of force, but denied gross misconduct. Following the hearing, Dorset Police said he acted 'inappropriately' as he detained the teenager after receiving reports of two assaults in the seaside town. It is understood that he intends to appeal the decision to sack him for gross misconduct. The married father-of-two said: 'I've got a phenomenal family and everyone knows that, but people are asking that question now 'am I some sort of abuser?' because I attempted to arrest someone who was potentially violent.' During the incident in question, the teenager was also heard screaming: 'My f****** neck, get off me, I don't want you on me', while Mr Castle is on top of him. The officer later shouted: 'Stop resisting or I'm gonna smash you, do you understand?' and says the boy is being arrested on suspicion of assault. A force spokesperson said: 'PC Castle was seen to use unnecessary and inappropriate words towards the boy and place both his hands on his throat. 'The panel found that PC Castle failed to act with self-control, did not treat the boy with courtesy or respect. 'His shouting, swearing, finger pointing, taking hold of the boy's face and throat, and suggested use of leg restraints was not necessary, reasonable or proportionate.' Speaking on LBC radio, Mr Castle said the suspect, who had been wearing a mask, had been 'an unknown risk' and was found to be in possession of a knife during the arrest. The 46-year-old added: 'If I'd have known on those circumstances that he had a knife, that would have probably been a firearms incident. 'The real danger is the unknown. We knew he was potentially violent, but we didn't know how violent. 'Now, the risk for any police officer is the moment you go to detain someone, until you know you've got them safely detained.' He explained it was a 'scary situation' because he was on the ground with the offender with other people nearby. Mr Castle, who previously received a bravery award from the Humane Society, said he had received thousands of messages of support but felt people were questioning his nature despite previously having '10 years of exemplary service'. In a statement, Dorset Police Federation criticised the force's decision to release the footage, saying it had done so 'without also providing context or balance'. 'Our view is that the showing of selective clips of an officer's body-worn video is not a useful or responsible way to properly inform the public about an incident, and only serves to entice the public into making judgements without having the benefit of all the facts', the body said. 'This is not fair or just.' It added its members were still in limbo over how much force they should use in an arrest situation, and following PC Castle's sacking, it called on force commanders to provide 'urgent clarification' to frontline officers on the issue of force. But the federation said no such clarification has been forthcoming. Meanwhile, a distinguished former police and crime commissioner of Dorset Police said his former force has gone 'woke'. Martyn Underhill said he found it 'scary' how Dorset Police behaved, calling it an 'overreaction'. He said that while he deserved to be interviewed and disciplined, they were wrong to dismiss the 46-year-old officer without notice for gross misconduct. He also slammed their 'questionable' decision to release footage of the arrest and said he was one of the 2,500 people who have so far donated to a GoFundMe campaign. A campaigner for frontline police officers said the force had 'scored one of the biggest own goals ever' by sacking PC Castle. Dorset's Deputy Chief Constable Rachel Farrell said: 'We are sharing body worn video to address concerns about misinformation and to reassure the public that, while tackling crime in Dorset, our officers will continue to be proactive and robust - but by using their powers proportionately and with respect.' The Home Secretary, Yvette Cooper, has been asked to intervene in the case and reinstate PC Castle. A spokesperson for the Home Office declined to comment and said it was a matter for Dorset Police.
Daily Mail
8 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Newspaper's 'disgraceful' puff piece on Boulder attack suspect's daughter faces avalanche of criticism
USAToday was forced to heavily edit a story on the daughter of the Colorado terror suspect after thousands hammered the newspaper's glowing puff piece for excluding horrific details of the attack. The article, originally published Tuesday, did not specifically state that 45-year-old Egyptian national Mohamed Soliman allegedly threw Molotov cocktails at a group of pro-Israel demonstrators. The revised version added this detail to the body of the story and to the headline, with an editor's note saying the story had been updated to provide 'context and detail'. However, the main thrust of the piece was that Mohamed's 18-year-old daughter, Habiba Soliman, had dreams to attend medical school in the United States. 'Before the attack, Habiba Soliman had written about her hope of accomplishing great things,' the article says in both versions, adding that her 'favorite activity' was volunteering at a local hospital. The article further portrayed the despicable crime allegedly committed by her father as an unfortunate disruption to Habiba's aspirations to become a physician now that the entire family is set to be deported. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem announced on Tuesday that Mohamed's wife and five kids were in ICE custody and that federal investigators would determine 'to what extent his family knew about this heinous attack.' Hours later, the White House said the family 'could be deported by tonight.' The headline used to promote the USAToday article on X glossed over the brutal specifics of the attack, which left an 88-year-old Holocaust survivor with severe burns. 'Boulder suspect's daughter dreamed of studying medicine. Now she faces deportation,' the headline read in the post, which is still up on the social media site. This was also the headline used in the original version of the article, which USAToday said has been updated to include: 'Then, her father firebombed Jewish marchers in Boulder'. But before the update could be made, social media users had plenty of time to share their outrage at a major American newspaper showing what appeared to be sympathy for a suspected terrorist's daughter over the innocent victims of her father's alleged cruelty. Many were also frustrated that USAToday seemed to be sympathizing with Mohamed's family now that they face deportation, despite all of them being in the country illegally. 'I don't care what she dreamed of,' one X user commented underneath USAToday's post. 'If she's here illegally, AMERICANS dreamed that she gets deported.' 'Interesting editorial decision to allocate more words to the family of the terrorist than to the families of the victims,' another replied. Christina Hoff Sommers, an author and a well-known critic of modern feminism, said she was 'awaiting stories about how families of the burn victims are faring.' And Anna Kelly, the Deputy White House Press Secretary, simply commented, 'Are you so for real?' The opening four paragraphs of the revised article (pictured) added more context about the attack, not all of which were present in the original This excerpt of the revised piece adds this context about the motive behind the crime. None of this was broached in the original The main differences between the original and updated article from USAToday come in the very beginning. The original headline, which made no mention of the pro-Israel protestors who were attacked, was updated to the following: 'Habiba Soliman wanted to be a doctor. Then, her father firebombed Jewish marchers in Boulder.' The opening of the original and updated version also read differently, with the latter taking the whole second and third paragraphs to better explain the gruesome attack. 'Then her father, Mohamed Soliman, drove from Colorado Springs to Boulder on June 1, picked up 87-octane gas and flowers and made firebombs that he threw at a group of Jewish marchers on Pearl Street, investigators said,' read the second paragraph of the updated article. None of this context, at least in the specificity used above, was present in the original piece. The original piece also failed to mention the motive behind the attack, which took place at an outdoor mall where about 30 people were marching to raise awareness of the Israeli hostages still being held by Hamas. Mohamed, the suspect, allegedly branded this crowd a 'Zionist group' and said he wanted 'to kill all Zionist people,' according to investigators on the scene. After searching his car, police also found a red gas container, rags and documents with the words 'Israel,' 'Palestine,' and 'USAID' on them, according to an FBI affidavit. The original piece in USAToday did not mention any of this, even though all these details had already been widely publicized in the media. The revised piece added much of this context in the 12th paragraph, while also mentioning his alleged statement about wanting to stop Jews from taking over Palestine. Still, the revised piece largely retained the same angle, mostly focusing on Habiba Soliman's struggles when she moved to the US from Kuwait as a young teenager. The piece talks about how she joined a private charter school in Colorado Springs as a sophomore, detailing her difficulties learning English and making friends. It's meant to be a tragic tale, since Habiba won a college scholarship, became fluent in English and was on her way to medical school before her father messed it all up by getting them all deported. approached the USAToday newsroom for comment on the controversy. Mohamed has been charged with 16 counts of attempted first-degree murder, eight of which are 'with intent and deliberation,' the other eight of which are 'with extreme indifference.' Mohamed, who is being held on a $10 million bond, also faces federal hate crime charges. His first scheduled court appearance in Denver's federal court is on Friday.
BBC News
8 minutes ago
- BBC News
XL bully owner admits offences after fatal attack near Banbury
A woman has admitted having two XL bullies which were dangerously out of control and killed another Roberts, 36, admitted two counts of possession of a fighting dog and two counts of allowing the dogs to be in a public place without a muzzle or lead at Oxford Magistrates' Court on of De La Warr Drive, Banbury, also admitted two counts of being in charge of a dog dangerously out of control and one count of causing unnecessary suffering to a protected charges relate to an incident in which a schnoodle dog, Winnie, was killed by the two XL bullies, Kobi and Kardi, in Hanwell, near Banbury, on 26 March. Roberts' sentencing was adjourned for a pre-sentence report to be prepared. She will be sentenced at the magistrates' court on 18 July. You can follow BBC Oxfordshire on Facebook, X (Twitter), or Instagram.
