Cell phones

This is a difficult one.
The aim of prisons is to punish and to reform. Loss of liberty is a punishment in itself, without the loss of every single comfort in life, and treating offenders with utmost severity probably won’t help them to become better people.
Bear in mind that some prisoners have committed heinous offences for which we might consider no punishment too severe, whereas others are in many ways victims of circumstances, mental health problems etc., and are imprisoned because no one can think of anything else to do with them. Provision of some comforts to them might be seen as a good thing
I don’t see any advantage to providing personal phones, but I think adequate access to pay phones as a reward for good behaviour is a step in the right direction as it could help towards rehabilitation.

Who will have time listen, decode and monitor all the calls??

Apparently one of the aims is to reduce the criminality of private phones being smuggled in. If everyone has one perhaps less cause of intimidation? I heard a gentleman on TV saying there was regularly a shortage of clean socks and underpants and thinks any 'spare' funding should be channelled in that direction.

Whatever happened to bread and water?

Read my first post. Only vetted numbers can be rung and they are recorded and monitored calls.

newnanny

They have to be bright enough to study for and get a pass to be awarded a degree.
It's about rehab, or would you rather them fester for 10 years and come out angry, uneducated and unemployable?

A prison sentence surely is a punishment.
It is but it is also supposed to involve rehabilitation.

I can't see how mobile phones would help in that process.

I hope that the victims of their crimes are also getting all these privileges for free.

My ex-husband is serving a longish sentence for heinous crimes against some vulnerable people. My fear would be that if someone like him had a phone he could use it t harass and frighten his victims. Victims have a right to protection from their abusers.

Anja
They ARE landlines and all their calls will be monitored and, if misused, will be removed.
They will only be able to call a limited number of approved and vetted numbers and all calls will be recorded. They will also be listened to in real time in certain instances.
Inmates will still have to buy their own phone cards to make calls.
I still don't totally agree with it but there are some advantages. The prisons minister has also given the go-ahead for a mobile signal blocking system to be put in place in all prisons which will, hopefully, stop the influx of illegal mobiles.

Providing phones wouldn't half open up a can of worms to those whose incarcerations are " proven " MOJ's as outside contacts such as solicitors and supporters would have a field day, but not so good for those who put them where they are !

Absolutely! A prison sentence surely is a punishment.

Absolutely!

No they should not. I am also furious they get a free degree if in for very long when students have to pay £9k a year for theirs and prisoners do not pay for theirs. I also saw prisoners allowed IVF when NHS denies many law abiding citizens. Let us not forget these people have broken law often with vile crimes and tax payer is forced to foot the bill. For some who murder and your tyre hanging is the answer not bloody phones in cells and snooker tables and free degree.

NotSpaghetti I quote,' re offending massively reduced if prisoners maintain good family contact'
If families are so important to criminals then why get themselves into 'activities' that puts them there.

I worked in a prison for 9 years ( retired now).
Mobile phones were a big problem in prisons, they would try to get them via visitors, prison staff and even secreted up bottoms !
How phone use works in prisons is there is a few (fixed) phones on the wings. When prisoners have association time ( not at work,education,locked up ) they have time in the wing. They queue up to make phone calls ( if they have the available value on their phone card ) they can only phone out to pre agreed phone numbers ) So obviously having a mobile gives them free reign to phone whoever at whenever time they choose . I do not agree with having mobile's freely.

Why not go the whole hog and give them Sky, sun lamps and dressage lessons as well.

I think the money should be spent on more prison officers.

We are told that all calls will be monitored and the phones will be landlines which will only call approved numbers. It’s still a big, fat NO from me. Criminals go to prison because they have committed either numerous, or very serious crimes. Prison is there to 1) punish 2) rehabilitate. Phones will not help in either situation. Prisoners will soon find a way to pass on messages via the phone and will carry on their merry way of organising crime from inside the prison, in fact this already happens without phones, how much easier with phones! Providing phones neither punishes nor rehabilitates.

Plus, whatever the cost it still begs the question about others, who are not criminals, who need the money far more than criminals. The list is endless, the NHS, schools, cancer drugs, the police ( more police might deter criminals more than phones in cells), people on pension credit, the disabled, and so on, all deserve the money more than criminals.

NO! - but depends on what they were imprisoned for - seems an incredible amount of money …….

My DH spent some time inside for a crime which he actually didn't commit, but we couldn't prove his innocence. At the time the prisoner had to buy phone cards, queue for ages and had barely time to speak to his family. I do think that prisoners should have access to phones (most can't live without them these days!). In DH's inmate days they weren't even allowed FM radio - he was in an open and I fought to be allowed to take him in a radio so he could listen to Radio 3!

And genuine training. And education.
But without enough staff, inmates can’t even get to classes as it needs people to escort them there.

As River said, it seems it is not about mobile phones but landlines in their cells which can only call certain numbers.

I don't think they should have them in their cells but I do think they should be more available so that prisoners can keep in touch with their families.

I would also allow them to watch TV but would restrict their viewing to the terrestrial channels. It does seem wrong that they pay very much less to watch TV than a patient in hospital pays.

I don't understand why all prisons aren't run on a reward system. Maybe the very basic accommodation, food etc and everything else has to be earned one way or another.

I can understand how difficult it may be to stop phones getting into the prisons but would it be so difficult to block the signals so they can't use them? Prison officers could use radios to communicate. If a nearby local large theatre has no mobile phone signal why not a prison?

Certainly not. Criminal activities can ruin peoples lives and there are victims on both sides. Perpetrators clearly do not give a toss whose lives will be affected, even their own kith and kin, when carrying out their crime so why allow them a phone.

Yes mummsymags more well trained staff would be MY first choice too!