Playing the blame game

Last month we witnessed the “worst riots in a generation” according to the UK Justice Secretary Kenneth Clarke. Over the course of the nightly riots, hundreds of millions of pounds (even more in euros!) worth of material damage was done, some 3,000 individuals were arrested and five people lost their lives. The London Police force spent an extra 74 million pounds on committing resources to deal with the wild disturbances as reported by acting London police chief Tim Godwin. Other forces that sent officers to help cities tackle the riots spent another 50 million pounds nationally according to Hugh Orde, president of the Association of Chief Police Officers.

A fine mess altogether and a very costly one at that, the final cost will probably never be truly known. Courts are sitting morning, noon and night; the prison system is at capacity and all the time the costs just keep on getting bigger and bigger. It could easily run into a billion pounds or more if you were to take count of every expense incurred and lets face it, no country can afford that type of “miscellaneous” expenditure in these days of austerity.

So who is going to pay for this, someone has to pick up the bill; well the one group who you can be sure will not be paying this financial bill are the very same ones who caused it… the rioters. Funny that, it’s like going into a restaurant and not only ordering whatever you want and not paying for it, you also smash the place up and steal whatever takes your fancy. The police are called to respond to your behaviour, they arrest you, process you and take you to court where you are represented by a court appointed lawyer, your found guilty and receive a custodial sentence; you are taken to a prison where you are kept warm and dry, never hungry and fully entertained and if the social system in the UK is anything like it is here in Ireland, your dependents receive extra social welfare payments because of the “hardship” of you being in prison… and who pays for all of this, that’s right, the taxpayer does.

Reuters (London) reports that Justice Secretary Kenneth Clarke said the riots showed the urgent need to reform a penal system with a "straightforwardly dreadful" record of rehabilitating inmates. Nearly 75 percent of adults charged in last month's riots in England were known criminals with prior convictions. Clarke believes that the riots are the legacy of a broken penal system with a dreadful record in preventing re-offending.

First finger of blame goes to: the prison system for not turning the bold boys and girls into good boys and girls. How can society build and survive if we are unable to give these poor misguided things hope and a sense of value and an education and a job and a holiday and a car and a house and a pony and a holiday home and a boat and a…

Second finger of blame goes to: society for not caring and sharing. This I agree with 100%. Society is to blame, we have not cared enough and we have not shared enough with this “feral underclass” who value nothing and want everything for free! We have not cared that they contribute nothing to society, we have not cared enough about them being a financial drain on society, and we have not cared enough about how they are allowed to get away with breaking the law while taxpayers pick up the bill.

How can society build and survive if we do not take action against those who choose to live their lives fighting society. Why should these people not be held accountable for the full cost of their actions? The true cost of crime is never taken into account when the judge hands down the sentence. Someone who breaks into a house is not in my view committing a “petty crime” they are committing social terrorism. Their actions spreads fear throughout the community and not just within their victims. If we as a society are to live productive lives we must demand action by governments against these social terrorists so that we may live in peace.

The full and true cost of crime must be placed on the shoulders of those who commit crime so that they understand the full extent of their actions. I am sure that a system can be designed where by these people can work off this debt in a manner that educates them with skills for use when they return to society. That would be in my view a caring response to the issue.

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/justice-minister-blames-riots-penal-system-report-013828827.html