This News article made me spit feathers!!!

[thehoneyant]

http://today.reuters.co.uk/news/NewsArticle.aspx?type=topNews&storyID=2006-02-09T100222Z_01_L09389004_RTRUKOC_0_UK-CRIME-BRITAIN-OFFENDERS.xml (http://today.reuters.co.uk/news/NewsArticle.aspx?type=topNews&storyID=2006-02-09T100222Z_01_L09389004_RTRUKOC_0_UK-CRIME-BRITAIN-OFFENDERS.xml)

Mr Clark states the work carried out by those guilty of more minor offences would be highly visible so the public could see the sentences were being served. Not in this instance mate !!


This has realy annoyed me, there was a photograph in my local paper of youngsters cleaning up a nature walk. These were volunteers, but in small print ,:mad: it stated that some of the (helpers) were doing community service.!!! Tucked away among nice ordinary kids that volunteer on a regular basis, because they believe in helping to clean up their environment.

I'm not advocating the community service folks should wear broad arrows on a overall. But come on, they have offended. Is pampering going to make them better citizens, and stop the re-offending. I wonder what Mr Clarks idea of highly visible will be.:rolleyes:



Your thoughts ( only if you wanna) At least I got it off my chest, sorry folks;)

[cutpricegoodies]

A friend of mine who works for a charity has had trouble arranging for 'convicts' to dig over an allotment which grows vegetables for old people because of health & safety reasons.

They should be cleaning grafitti off buildings and tidying up 'sink' estates.


As for the high visiblity, maybe bright orange suits with arrows on should be the order of the day.

[sludgeguts]

For my money, anybody who breaks the law must forego some 'human rights'.
For minor offences, I agree they should be made to wear orange boiler suits & taken around town picking litter & generally cleaning up.
If they fail to do this then the next step is, once re-arrested, to carry out the same punishment as part of a chain gang - cleaning the market square on Saturday afternoons perhaps.

Community service is a complete joke. For the 'decent' offender ie, one who is really sorry for what they have done, CS is fine & it works but the general scumbags don't give a damn & simply don't turn up. The CS supervisors have enough on their plate so never bother chasing them up.

Better still if, for more serious offences, they are stripped & only given the orange boiler suit to wear. They should then be shipped off to a distant town to serve their CS - with no money & no means of getting home - and perhaps a decent tagging system that cannot be removed?

At the end of the day, it's too little, too late. We've allowed too many freeloaders into the country. So many that everything is at bursting point:mad:

[fairywishes]

Unfortunatley , as always , nothing is ever just black and white.
There are loads of shades of grey in between. A law breaker is a law breaker , is to me no different to saying sin is sin etc ...

NOT SO ... imo. There are degrees of crime and I am all for trying to re-educate, re-socialise petty criminals ( whom i should hope ) are the ones who by and large are recieving the community service ( IF THEY ARE NOT, THEN THATS ANOTHER MATTER - TO DO WITH THE COURTS , NOT DISHING OUT CORRECT SENTENCING ). I recon if we where to nitpick we would be hard pushed to find people who have never broken the law. Ok so maybe they where not arrested for it, cus they got away with it. What ever it is, was.

So make the crime FIT the time , sentence would be more appropriate.

I am a supporter of community service , if it is given out to the correct people. Most ( though not all ) young offenders got to Y.O institutions where they become more savvy with crime and so come out better criminals . The things they do inside young offenders institutions is more in tune with a holiday camp at times anyway. So where would they be of more use ? In side mixing with like minded divs , planning there revenge :rolleyes: at the cost of the tax payer, OR doing worthwhile community service , maybe learning something and in some cases gaining self respect.

To address the part about them MIXING with non criminal kids ( well, that would be the likes of my kids then ) who constantly go out of their way to help people. If the people doing the community service along side them , where as i have said above ... as they should be, imo ... then i could only HOPE that rather than their bad habbits rubbing off on my kids. That infact maybe my kids, and those like them , Their GOOD habbits might rub off on them ? If so everyones a winner.

Any sexualy related or drug related crime should NOT be up for community service though imo, as a much firmer hand should be taken with those people.