Crime And The Law #5: Responses To Crime Flashcards
“Describe, in detail, government responses to crime.” (6)
One government response to crime is the SVRU (Scottish Violence Reduction Unit). This means that the Scottish government directly funds part of the police to work and identify evidence based solutions to violence. Evidence of this is the SVRU is given £1 million by the Scot Govt each year to help achieve their goals.
Another government response to crime is the CPO (Community Payback Order). This means that an offender can be sentenced to unpaid work within a neighbourhood. Evidence of this is that offenders given a CPO have to carry out between 200-300 hours of unpaid work, for the benefit of the community.
“Describe, in detail, how government responses to crime are effective.” (6)
Another way the govt effectively tackles crime is the Scottish violence reduction unit. This means that the SVRU works to reduce violent crime, as prevention is best. Evidence of this is a study of SVRU found that the possession of knife crime for their CIRV (Community Initiative to Reduce Violence) clients have decreased by 59%.
Another way that the govt has effectively tackled crime is through CPOs. This means that community payback orders are an opportunity for an offender to do community service instead of jail time. Evidence of this is that 69,000 offenders were given community service in England and Wales, 2022.
“Describe, in detail, how government responses to crime are ineffective.” (6)
Another way in which government responses to crime have been ineffective is the Scottish violence reduction unit. This means that although the SVRU have reduced many forms of violent crime, it doesn’t seem to be very effective when it comes to assault. Evidence of this is that assault was found to go down by 11% in CIRV clients, but 14% in non-clients.
Another way that the government response to crime has been ineffective is through Community Payback Orders (CPO’s). This means that although CPO’s aim to subject offenders to carry out unpaid work, the ways in which they do so may not always be effective. Evidence of this is that around 1/3 CPOs are not completed (completion rate of 70% for CPOs in recent years, Scot Govt)
“Describe, in detail, ways police respond to crime.” (6)
One way the police try to tackle crime is through the Scottish violence reduction unit.
(SVRU). This means that the police use this to reduce crime through working with a variety of partners including health and community groups. Evidence of this is that the svru has helped Scotland to experience a 35% in reduction of homicide between 2010-11 and 2019-
20.
Another way that the (Scottish) police try to tackle crime is through the No Knives Better Lives (NKBL) campaign. This means that the police use this initiative to educate young people on the dangers of carrying a knife through initiatives at schools and youth work interventions. Evidence of this is that since NKBL was founded in 2009, knife crime has declined by 44%.
“Describe, in detail, how police’s responses to crime are effective.” (6)
One way in which the police have been effective in tackling crime is the role of campus cops. This means that there are some police officers whose job is to build relationships with young people in school, to reduce the chances of them offending. Evidence of this is that there are around 87 police officers working in schools in Scotland. (2020)
One way in which the police have been effective in tackling crime is by crime prevention.
This means that the police have done a good job in stopping crime taking place in Scotland before it happens. Evidence of this is the violence reduction unit (VRU) who have prevented an estimated 3,220 hospital admissions for violent injury since they were introduced in England and wales. (gov.uk)
“Describe, in detail, how police’s responses to crime are ineffective.” (6)
One way that Police Scotland are ineffective is the slow response times. This means that if the police are slow to respond the situation can escalate/get worse. Evidence of this is the Lamara Bell case where the police took three days to respond to a crash on the M9 resulting in the death of her and her boyfriend.
Another way that Police are ineffective is due to the amount of unneeded stop and searches. This means that the police’s time is being wasted and members of the public are inconvenienced. Evidence of this is of 40,000 stop and searches conducted by the Metropolitan police, 70% of them had no outcome.
“Describe, in detail, how police’s responses to crime are ineffective.” (6)
One way that Police Scotland are ineffective is the slow response times. This means that if the police are slow to respond the situation can escalate/get worse. Evidence of this is the Lamara Bell case where the police took three days to respond to a crash on the M9 resulting in the death of her and her boyfriend.
Another way that Police are ineffective is due to the amount of unneeded stop and searches. This means that the police’s time is being wasted and members of the public are inconvenienced. Evidence of this is of 40,000 stop and searches conducted by the Metropolitan police, 70% of them had no outcome.
“Describe, in detail, the purpose of prison” (6)
One purpose of prisons is rehabilitation. This means that there are opportunities for people to consider why they committed a crime and to access a programme of support. Evidence of this is that 76% of people have not reoffended a year after leaving prison in Scotland. (2019)
Another purpose of prisons is protection. This means that if dangerous criminals are locked up at once it protects them from being involved in crimes out of prison. Evidence of this is over 8,000 criminals in Scotland are behind bars in 2024.
“Describe, in detail, how prisons are effective” (6)
One reason why prisons are effective is because it punishes people for doing wrong. This means that if you have been convicted of a crime the court can sentence you to jail time to ensure justice is done. Evidence of this is in 2023 over 90000 people were imprisoned in the uk.
Another reason why prisons are effective is because it can reduce reoffending. This means that in prison and on release prisoners are helped to rehabilitate so they don’t reoffend. Evidence of this is That only 25 percent of prisoners reoffend in the uk. (gov.uk)
“Describe, in detail, how prisons are ineffective” (6)
One way in which prisons are ineffective is due to overcrowding. This means that not enough prisons have been built to accommodate as many offenders as are being convicted and imprisoned. Evidence of this is Pentonville Prison in England which houses over double its maximum capacity.
Another way in which prisons are ineffective is because of issues during pregnancy. This means that pregnant women behind bars are often subjected to high levels of stress which may lead to unhealthy babies or still births. Evidence of this is that women in prison are 7x more likely to have a still born baby. (BBC)
“Describe, in detail, how alternatives to prison are effective” (6)
Another way that alternatives to prisons are effective is by Home Detention Curfews. This means that prisoners must serve their sentence in their house using tag tracking, which is a lot more cost efficient compared with custodial responses. Evidence of this is that a Home Detention Curfew is £32,000 cheaper per year than sending someone to prison.
Another way that alternatives to prisons are effective is fines. This means that the perpetrator must pay a sum of money for their crime, this money can be used for the benefit of the public. Evidence of this is that in 2021 roughly nearly 80% of all offenders received a fine (sentencing council)
“Describe, in detail, how alternatives to prison are ineffective” (6)
One way that Community Payback Orders (CPO) are ineffective is because they are not always completed. This means that CPOs are supposed to enforce a certain amount of hours of unpaid, supervised work on the perpetrator, but these punishments might not be carried out.
Evidence of this is that in 2018-2019, almost a third of CPO’s were not completed. (Scot govt)
One way that Home Detention Curfews are ineffective is false breaches.
This means that sometimes there are faults in the tagging equipment which raises questions about reliability. Evidence of this is that a number of monitored people interviewed for research in England reported false breaches, when the equipment wrongly logged them as having broken the terms of their HDC. (Scot Govt)
