Cell phones

What’s most needed by prisoners is basic education which the majority lack. Training in skills such as catering, painting and decorating, and horticulture have been proved to decrease reoffending.

I haven’t looked into this suggestion very closely but Hm999 is right in that the re-offending rate is massively reduced if prisoners maintain good family contact. Those hallway phones are places of abuse and provocation and are very hard for staff to oversee apparently. This means that some prisoners go for weeks without making the calls they want to make to their families.
I think we should evaluate the pros and cons calmly before jumping to conclusions either way. They would be only able to call pre agreed numbers and calls would be monitored, so let’s see what the evidence is - some places already have these phones - and if it reduces reoffending then it may well be a good thing to do. And cost effective too. If the evidence is that they make things worse, then let’s give it a miss!

Those who say that prison is like a holiday camp/hotel have not set foot inside one. I volunteered on a Literary & Numeracy course at my local prison for four years and, although some of the offenders were used to far worse living conditions on the outside, there is no way your average human being would want or choose to be 'banged up'. The atmosphere in any detention centre is extremely oppressive (as it is meant to be) and the living conditions, although reasonably decent, are a long way from luxurious.
I gather that the proposed phones in cells are intended to be controlled and can only dial out to approved numbers but in my experience, offenders are extremely innovative and will easily find a way round that!! I can see that the intention is good but I do not think it is a good idea - the money would be better spent on improved training for staff and more staff

Well it will provide the technicals inmates with a little extra income. (Money and fags) when he/she reprogrammes all the prenumber call mobiles.

And then they can all keep in touch with their lovely friends and plan their next adventures.

Meanwhile back to the victims....

Why right wing? Does every thing have to come down to left or right politics?
I am NOT right wing but really do not see why they should have phones. It really is not nessasary.

What a pity, in this upside down society of ours, that there is not the same empathy for the victims, some of whom have, due to no fault of their own, had their lives irreparably wrecked.

No

They should have no access to phones, tv, internet or leisure activities at all, be given basic food only and have little contact with other prisoners. Instead, they should have plenty of alone time to reflect upon their crimes and be given suitable reading material about people who have made the best of their lives.

I dont agree with it at all. That sounds like an awful lot of money that could be better spent elsewhere. One of my DD had a partner who was a petty criminal who has been in and out of jail all his adult life. He had telephone access in his cell I was told but it didnt help turn him around to stop thieving. My daughter blocked me because I was not willing to meet him. She even stopped us seeing our grandchildren when we came to England because she chose him over us. A week later he is out of jail and in less than two weeks he is back in jail because he stole and broke his parole. So no I don't think it helps to make a criminal a better person.

No

Absolutely NO!! On a (?) lighter note, I read recently someone's idea for 'care for the elderly'. At a certain age, we are to be issued with a firearm. We are then to nominate one useless politician whom we would then shoot. The aftermath of this would be - free accommodation, warmth, regular meals, visiting rights for our families, medical treatment when required, activities, therapies and so on. This would relieve the continuing burden on social care as prisons cost less to run than care homes. Et Voila!!

NO!

The problem for the family of a prisoner is the breakdown of family life. What about those poor wife and children?

And a prisoner who returns to a family is less likely to reoffend.

No.

Why not phones ? They get all sorts of other things and treatment that the rest of us don't get.

SIL an amputee of 50 years has been on crutches for the past 5 years because the type of leg she needs is out of the norm and expensive yet a prisoner in her physiotherapy group got one with in months of going into prison.

So £10.000.00 is chicken feed. Bl**dy ridiculous. Makes me so angry.

Despite being an amputee SIL worked from 15 to 57 when she needed a hip replacement that knocked her sideways but can she get the leg she needs Not a Chance. And she is not alone in this.

But be a prisoner and the powers that be fall over themselves to give you more than you had before you were punished lol for your crimes. So So angry

The powers that be so need reminding that part of being in Prison is supposed to be a removal your everyday rights, it’s not a holiday camp. The prisoners are inside for failing to show respect and decency to others who abide by societies rules. The high rate of reoffenders is proof enough that whatever they are doing in our prisons, is not working .... the whole system needs looking at and bought up to date with today’s problems. We need in my opinion, to be more robust and make the Prison regime a deterrent, not a breeding ground for more hatred and more crime. Their every move should be closely monitored and that should include phone usage. Prisoners are so devious, if only that ingenuity could be challenged into something more productive and useful.

Apparently the prisoners will only be able to ring pre approved numbers and the calls could be monitored. We are constantly told of the shortage of prison officers so who will be monitoring these calls. Monitoring calls from one phone situated on the landing of a wing would be relatively easy and could be done by just one person. Monitoring the calls from individual phones in cells would be impossible with the current level of prison officers.

Well, I don't know what happened there!
I was going to say, absolutely not!
There are too many comforts for convicted criminals already, so why on earth would we give them one more?

As I understand it, some prisoners already have landlines in their cell and they can only call/receive from pre-programmed numbers e.g. partner, parents etc.

I think the plan is to expand this and it would be landlines only - I would hope that it's a privilege that you have to earn by good behaviour.

Wel typical right wing reaction. If the authorities think it will reduce crime then I’m sure there must be something in it. No way are they going to sanction that just for the prisoners benefit. A lot of time is spent trying to stop them from being smuggled in anyway and they still get through. I thought prison was also about rehabilitation. Not much of that happens in our appalling prisons. Regular Contact with children would only have a beneficial effect on the whole family and even perhaps keep families together. Incarceration is the punishment and with the amount of re offending I’m certain our approach of locking them up for 23 hours out of 24 is another punishment on top of the punishment of being there. Who said when you are punished by going to prison then the punishments should continue all the time you are there!

They all have access to phones anyway. There are tiny mobiles that are manufactured to be hidden in a certain body part of the body. If they were given access to phones it wouldn’t make any difference because they wouldn’t want to use a phone that might be monitored.

Absu

I thought when you were sent to prison it was to be punished no wonder so many reoffend it is a good life no work no bills to pay and 3 meals a day warm bed the homeless would willingly swap forgot to say own tv etc it is no longer a punishment

It depends. Whilst prison should be a punishment it also has to try to rehabilitate those incarcerated there ready for return to society.

If the phones are for those due for release, given as a " reward " for good behaviour etc. then there may be a place for them.

How to manage them and control misuse ought not to be beyond the wit & skill of the Home Office.

A huge NO!
Criminal activity could be continued as well as intimidation etc.