The Law and Order Debate - No Safety in Numbers

Both the Governenment and the Opposition seem determined to outbid each other, announcing increased police numbers in the leadup to the March election.

To get some balance into the law and order debate, here are the principles and goals of The Greens Criminal Justice Policy:

Principles

The Greens NSW believe:

A just and effective criminal justice system is in the interests of community safety and crime reduction;

Crime and criminal behaviour often has serious social impacts, particularly upon the victims of crime;

A just and effective criminal justice system must protect individual freedoms and rights;

It is important to reduce crime through policies including early intervention, alleviating poverty, education and training, rehabilitation and drug law reform;

The failed and simplistic politics of ‘law-and-order’ which seeks electoral advantage through exploitation of community fears and insecurities should be rejected;

Environmental and Occupational Health & Safety (OH&S) crimes are under-investigated and under-prosecuted compared to other forms of crime, and that more resources should be devoted to the prosecution of these crimes; and

The expansion of the custodial industry in NSW is a drain on public funds that has a negligible impact on the reduction of crime.

Goals

The Greens NSW will work towards:

A pro-active role for the NSW Government in delivering programs to alleviate the causes of crime such as unemployment, poverty, child abuse, lack of education and training and drug and alcohol abuse;

Maintaining the ongoing independence of the office of Director of Public Prosecutions;
Effective civilian oversight of NSW Police with adequate accountability mechanisms;
A judiciary that is independent of political interference and able to exercise discretion in sentencing;

A criminal justice system that deals effectively and humanely with serious offenders;
The imposition, wherever possible, of non-custodial penalties for those convicted of relatively minor, non-violent crimes in order to maximise the likelihood of successful rehabilitation and reduce recidivism;

The more humane treatment of prisoners, especially the disproportionately high numbers of those with mental illness and/or intellectual disability;

Effective programs to rehabilitate incarcerated offenders and reduce recidivism, including education, training schemes, employment opportunities, post release social support and other social and vocational services;

Ongoing education of the magistracy, the judiciary and the police to overcome prejudice and discrimination and to raise awareness about the impact of their decisions, particularly in relation to victims of sexual violence, Aboriginal and Torres Straight Islander People, those from other ethnic backgrounds; and other disadvantaged groups; and

Ensure prisons are owned and operated by the public sector.