NICE REMAND PRISON (RECOMMENDATIONS)
reduced sentencing for those prisoners who could benefit from it, as
one of the criteria for granting reduced sentencing lies in the knowing
whether the person works or not. An action plan in this area would
seem to be extremely desirable.
3/ It would also seem advisable to have a better organisation
surrounding the types of activity available to prisoners such that the
greater number becomes interested in them. It is certainly true that
there are plenty of examples of interesting activities with motivated,
well thought through and dedicated attention being paid to them.
But they are too transient and seem to attract too few numbers. In
addition, there appears to be little coordination and there is a great
difficulty in discerning the reasoning behind certain activities, what
they can lead to and how they improve the chances of rehabilitation.
In short, it would seem desirable to better define the aim of the
activities and to increase the number of participants (this last point
was already broached in the recommendation of 6th January 2009),
without an unacceptable increase in the human flux within the
institution.
4/ A permanent and rigorous count (it is often done de facto) should
be made of the number of prisoners who refuse to take part in exercise.
Attention has already been drawn (recommendation of 6th January
2009) to the extent of the violence that reigns in the exercise yard.
Fear is the most frequent reason for these refusals. The number of
prisoners who refuse to ‘go out’ is thus one indication which helps to
characterise life in such an institution. Particular attention needs to
be paid to this, as the Minister of Justice has indicated in his remarks.
On a more general front, particular vigilance should be exercised
concerning those prisoners who remain completely passive, or who
remain permanently in their cells, taking advantage of nothing or
showing no desire to get involved in anything. It should be noted that
several officers do this quite spontaneously. The ATF software should
be a help here.8
5/ Precisely because of the violence in exercise yards, one could
legitimately pose the question as to whether the systematic installation
of telephones in the yards - they clearly are welcomed - is a good idea,
whatever the call system chosen (‘black list’ or ‘white list’). It is true that
8
ATF for Activités, Travail, Formations - Activities, Work, Training.
19
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