Do you wear a shame jacket when riding?

[Jaded]

Crims don't need "taking down a notch."  They already tend to have flattened self-esteem.  A shame jacket will just confirm a long-held belief that they are scum and will never amount to more than scum, both in their minds and in those of the onlookers. 

Amen to that.

[clarion]

Oh thank you.  How do NACRO fit into this - they used to provide community-type work for people on probation?

[Julian]

They're volunteers, aren't they?  They're independent of the whole thing.

[clarion]

Well, I thought they might be contracted now to do what they used to do, but a bit more 'third-sector'-y.

[Noodley]

I'm not sure how it works in Englandshire but I know about Scotland's system - well, I should since I manage a criminal justice services team! 

I'll try to answers any questions you have....I'm freezing just now having been out cycling in the cold, but I'll have a closer look at the thread when I have warmed up and see what I can come up with by way of a sensible enough response to any queries.  But if you have any questions, ask away! 

[blackpuddinonnabike]

I'm not sure how it works in Englandshire but I know about Scotland's system - well, I should since I manage a criminal justice services team! 

I'll try to answers any questions you have....I'm freezing just now having been out cycling in the cold, but I'll have a closer look at the thread when I have warmed up and see what I can come up with by way of a sensible enough response to any queries.  But if you have any questions, ask away! 

Haven't got any jobs going do you? 'Aint got any criminal law experience (save 6 months within a traineeship 6 years ago) but don't hold that against me.

[Noodley]

Haven't got any jobs going do you? 'Aint got any criminal law experience (save 6 months within a traineeship 6 years ago) but don't hold that against me.

Actually, yes I do.  But you have missed the deadline and shortlistings by 2 weeks.

[blackpuddinonnabike]

Haven't got any jobs going do you? 'Aint got any criminal law experience (save 6 months within a traineeship 6 years ago) but don't hold that against me.

Actually, yes I do.  But you have missed the deadline and shortlistings by 2 weeks.

In which case it's the one I saw advertised and decided not to go for on the back of that lack of criminal law experience. Was speaking to a recruitment consultant this week, and seeing another two I know next week, and getting the same story - the market is dead at the moment...

[gordon taylor]

I presume the idea is imported from the USA. I recall cycling past proper prison work parties in Louisiana - with guys in orange jump suits, guards on horseback with stetsons and pump action shotguns...

There are huffy kids out litter-picking at other places too, complete with orange bibs and less well armed supervisors. Does it work? Obviously yes, as the USA is almost crime free.

[alan]

as the USA is almost crime free.

some mistake surely

[gonzo]

Alan - irony, perhaps!

I've always said that non-violent offenders ought to be put in some scheme where they benefit the economy. Been done for corporate tax fraud? Fair enough, you do the accounts for local charities 9-5 for 5 days a week. If you don't do that properly then you go to jail. Jail is to keep the people on the outside safe from the people inside.

[Cunobelin]

Very public community service might work to stop some of the scrotery.  It's better than sending 'em to prison for small stuff, and humiliating enough that they might think twice.

But not in regular work jackets, that confuses things.  If you're going to be breakin' rocks in the hot sun, stripes are de rigeur[/i].

... or pink might be seen by the majority of perps as a badge of shame.

The Isle of Wight had a "Pink Bus"

[gonzo]

Key West has pink taxis!

[Julian]

Alan - irony, perhaps!

I've always said that non-violent offenders ought to be put in some scheme where they benefit the economy. Been done for corporate tax fraud? Fair enough, you do the accounts for local charities 9-5 for 5 days a week. If you don't do that properly then you go to jail. Jail is to keep the people on the outside safe from the people inside.

That's another good reason not to have these bibs.  At the moment, the message is that you are doing good work for the benefit of the community - but not getting paid; that's the punishment part.  If the punishment is turned into the job itself - that you are doing a Shameful Job in a Bib of Shame - what message does that send out about the people who do these jobs for a living?

[mark]

I presume the idea is imported from the USA. I recall cycling past proper prison work parties in Louisiana - with guys in orange jump suits, guards on horseback with stetsons and pump action shotguns...

There are huffy kids out litter-picking at other places too, complete with orange bibs and less well armed supervisors. Does it work? Obviously yes, as the USA is almost crime free.

AIUI, the people guarded by armed guards are prison inmates who are being put to work in various ways, not petty offenders sentenced to community service. The orange jumpsuits are to identify them as prisoners and make it harder for them to escape, not necessarily to humiliate them. Litter pickers tend to be petty offenders on community service, but the bibs are worn to make them visible to passing motorists, just like any other highway worker. AFAIK, people doing community service as punishment for a crime in the US are not made to wear any kind of uniform designed to stigmatize or shame them, just whatever clothing or safety wear the job requires.

It's nice to learn that I live in an almost crime-free country .

[Pancho]

As someone who, occasionally volunteers to litter pick, clear ditches and generally keep the village spick and span, I'd welcome hi-viz jackets for the crims (preferably with "THIEF"/"VANDAL" emblazoned across the back).

The reason - I'm fed up with people thinking that me and my band of volunteers are doing community service.

[Adrian]

You could get "volunteer", or if you prefer perhaps, "No we are not scum in punishment" printed on yours.

[Tim Hall]

As someone who, occasionally volunteers to litter pick, clear ditches and generally keep the village spick and span, I'd welcome hi-viz jackets for the crims (preferably with "THIEF"/"VANDAL" emblazoned across the back).

The reason - I'm fed up with people thinking that me and my band of volunteers are doing community service.

I took my bunch of scouts down to darkest Sussex last weekend, for some voluntary conservation work. We were labouring away in some woods which the public were walking through.  I did toy with the idea of teaching them to sing "That's the sound of a man, working on a chain gang" (insert emoticon of choice here)