Church suggests plan to cut jail numbers

The Salvation Army wants politicians to reach a Finnish-style multiparty accord to stop using crime and punishment as a political football.

The church, which has provided social workers in courts and prisons for more than a century, publishes a major report today urging a shift away from tough sentencing laws enacted in 2002 which have pushed up New Zealand's imprisonment rate to the second highest in the developed world.

It proposes a multi-party accord to shift political debate to "issues of researched fact and policy" instead of emotional reactions to particular horrific crimes.

But politicians gave the report a lukewarm reception. Corrections Minister Damien O'Connor, who visited Finland this month, welcomed the church's entry into a debate which he sparked last week by suggesting a 30 per cent cut in prisoner numbers.

"It remains to be seen, however, whether all political parties have the foresight and courage to even start talking about the issues," he said.

National Party law and order spokesman Simon Power said he had yet to be convinced that the Finnish model "would have any merit in the New Zealand context".

"We are keen to talk with other parties about a constructive solution to the law and order problem, but in no way will I be party to a kneejerk solution like that offered by Damien O'Connor to release 30 per cent of the prison population."

The Salvation Army report, "Beyond the Holding Tank", says New Zealand is locking up criminals but doing very little to stop them offending again as soon as they get out.

"Nearly three-quarters of all inmates are reconvicted within two years of release," it says. "Once in prison, very little is offered by way of work, training, addiction or other rehabilitative programmes. In 2004-05, only 141 inmates underwent a residential drug and alcohol programme.

"As at September 2005, only 31 per cent of inmates were in employment and the majority of those were employed for only a few hours per day."

The report cites Finland as a better model because of its policy of not jailing people for minor offences such as drink driving and theft.

It has made more use of fines, community service and conditional sentences - similar to suspended sentences in New Zealand which kept offenders out of jail provided they did community work and did not offend again. The Labour Government abolished suspended sentences in the Sentencing Act 2002.

The report says both Finnish politicians and media made Finland's policy possible.

"In Finland, crime reporting is less emotional and graphic. Crime is reported but comments are made using research-based data. This has enabled Finland's politicians to maintain a multiparty agreement around the debate on crime that stops criminal justice policy being used as a political football."

Minor parties welcomed the report more fully than National or Labour.

Maori Party co-leader Tariana Turia and United Future's Peter Dunne both said violent criminals should continue to be jailed but non-violent offenders did not need to be in prison.

Green Party justice spokesman Nandor Tanczos said it should be possible to get MPs to sit down together and "let go a little bit of their assumptions and just be prepared to come along and listen".

Act MP Heather Roy said Act would also support multiparty talks, but it would want a "bottom line" that all sentences should be served in full without parole.


Finnish model

* Finland cut its imprisonment rate from 185 per 100,000 people in 1950 to 66 today.
* New Zealand's rate rose in the same period from 56 to 185.
* Sentences for most drunk drivers and thieves were changed from prison to fines and community work.
* Finnish media do not fuel public fear by emphasising crime.