February 26, 2002. Copyright 2002. Graphic News. All rights reserved.

Virtual prisons for BritainÕs teenage tearaways

LONDON, February 26, Graphic News: A spate of violent offences by teenagers has rasied fears of a crime wave in Britain, resulting in plans to tag youngsters charged with serious crimes while on bail awaiting trial.

But the idea of lawless juveniles being tagged by electronic Òbig-brotherÓ warders to stop them reoffending is far from new, especially in a country with a record number of prison inmates. Last week the Prison Service reported that the number of inmates in England and Wales has reached an all-time high of 69,150 -- close to the systemÕs 71,000 maximum -- and representing more than one inmate per 1,000 citizens.

Over two hundred years ago British philosopher and social reformer Jeremy Bentham pronounced on lawless panic on the street: ÒThe greatest happiness of the greatest number is the measure of right and wrong.Ó To this end Bentham published plans to build a ÒpanopticonÓ penitentiary in 1791. His panopticon, or Òall-seeing place,Ó was a circular prison with glass walls in which every inmate could be constantly watched from a single central stage. By a carefully contrived system of lighting and blinds, the guards would be invisible to the inmates. Control was to be maintained by the constant sense that prisoners were watched by unseen eyes -- there was nowhere to be private, nowhere to hide. BenthamÕs panopticon never became a reality, but the virtual world seems to have found an internet-age equivalent.

Electronic tagging, now the punishment of vogue, allows a constant watch to be kept, making sure that former inmates do not even step outside their front door during curfew hours.

The home office plans to tag children as young as 12 years old. Offenders will be confined to their family home for their curfew and wear tags, fitted to the wrist or ankle, which are linked to a monitoring device plugged into a phone line.

The tag sends out a constant signal to the box. If no signal is received during the curfew, it contacts the control centre, which then informs the police that the early release conditions have been broken. Additionally, if the tag or box is tampered with, a message is also sent to the centre.

The scheme is not without its opponents. Frances Crook, director of the Howard League for Penal Reform, criticised the scheme, saying: ÒChildren on bail are children first and foremost, and should be treated as such. The most important principle in English law is that people are innocent until proved guilty and [this] should apply to children too.Ó

Crook said she had a number of reservations about the tagging -- which was not as good as close human contact with, for example, probation officers. She also suspected that it was being introduced because it was Òa cheap way of imprisoning people.Ó

Other objections on principle have been made on the grounds that, instead of being a liberalising measure, tagging actually makes it more acceptable for people to be punished. Crook said there was a danger that tagging could set a precedent for other technologies to be used in punishment, such as electronic shackles, in wide use in some American states for people who would normally be jailed.

Some critics point out the watch-like devices will become the next Òmust-haveÓ fashion accessory among young Òstreet-wiseÓ offenders, much like the mobile phones which have led to the 14 percent rise phone-mugging crimes on British streets.
/ENDS

Source: Howard League for Penal Reform