Crime in Trinidad
...hat the Government can institute pro-active and preventative solutions.4 One such solution is life imprisonment without possibility of parole. A life sentence is an attempt on the part of the members of the society to expel from their community a member for the rest of his/her life, mainly applied to the most difficult or the most dangerous criminals. Another solution is Intense Supervision Programmes, which are rigorous, non-custodial interventions available for serious offenders and can eventually act as a crime prevention measure. As its name suggests, it combines unprecedented levels of community-based surveillance with a comprehensive and sustained focus on tackling the factors that contribute to the person’s offending behaviour. Offenders can be rehabilitated and together with the efforts of the citizens and the government, there can be an ultimate reduction in the number of offences committed. Additionally, Home confinement, a form of community-based corrections, is one method the courts use to restrict the freedom of defendants and offenders and protect society. In most cases, officers use electronic monitoring as a tool in supervising persons on home confinement. Home confinement is not a sentence in itself but maybe a condition of probation, parole, or supervised release, as well as a condition of pretrial release. Courts may use it as a sanction for persons who violate the conditions of their supervision. It allows controlled reintegration with the community which is often difficult for incarcerated inmates. While the level of personal deprivation may be far less for offenders serving sentences at home rather than in institutional confinement, it gives the state greater authority over the individual, where the offender is generally not permitted to be anywhere except home. This is a real punishment which highlights to the community that restrictions do not only occur behind iron bars and as such be a positive influence in crime prevention. With the proper implementation of the above solutions, only then will murder, robbery, rape, kidnapping and other crimes be reduced to levels where ordinary citizens can feel safe as they go about their daily business. ANALYSIS Elimination of Options: The first alternative solution is Intense Supervision Programmes which contains two major variations, Intensive Probation Supervision and Intensive Parole Supervision. The former provides intensive supervision in the community in lieu of incarceration and the latter permits community–based monitorship of offenders only after they have served some time in an incarcerated facility. However, though the above alternative may seem to be appealing, it has been argued that probation is a lenient sanction that fails to adequately punish offenders as demonstrated when hardened criminals who are major threats to society are given an inadequate and unbalanced punishment when compared to the physiological and emotional effects on their victims and immediate family. Furthermore, the presence of offenders in the community creates risks of additional citizen victimization. For example, in the services employed in surrounding parks and playgrounds, our youths stand a high probability of becoming the latest victims of these seemingly controlled criminals. It has also been argued that the research on intensive supervision does not demonstrate that rehabilitation is a likely product of the probationary process. Obviously this is a questionable statement. Hardened offenders will not be reformed if placed in a safe and secure environment where there is little demand on disciplinary development. Thus, the less intense the punishment, the lower the probability of a rehabilitated offender, which can be released into our society. Also, due to the increased crime in our nation, criminals are now not even serving the required length of time of their sentence. This is due to the overcrowding at many of our prisons and also to those on probation. The ratio of offenders to probation officers has been exceeded to a critical extent which have now overflown into a rampant slackness in our execution of probation. The second alternative is Home Confinement. This is also called House Arrest and has been implemented in conjunction with parole and as part of probationary sentences. However, many critics point out that there is substantial public opposition to the use of Home Confinement. It can be likened to the Intense Supervision Programme, where the perception of Home Confinement represents an unacceptably lenient sentence. This is a unanimous feeling when it comes to the victim’s family and close ones where this form of punishment does not compensate for their despair and pain. Critics of Home Confinement also raise questions about public safety. It can be ascertained that advocates of Home Confinement are correct in their claim that offenders who would otherwise be sent into institutions will be handled in Home Confinement Programs. This will ultimately mean that serious offenders will now be placed into the community where they have opportunities for further involvement in crime. Thus, this alternative provides more crime but also put many of our citizens in danger. Therefore, should they bear the burden and fear of being harmed? These citizens should not be placed under such traumatic conditions, since this alternative is supposed to give the nation peace knowing that the offenders are being punished for their heinous crimes. This alternative is clearly seen as a minute portion of punishment which should be inflicted on these offenders. Defense of Chosen Solution: The alternative solution - life sentence is considered as the most appropriate. It is essential that in our society life sentence is used as a form of indefinite preventive detention to protect society against dangerous or unruly offenders, whose specific offenses may not necessarily require the harshest punishment available. This gives the citizens and the nation peace in knowing that their country is much safer than if the offender was being released in a few years. Life sentencing, forces the offender to adapt a more subtle and routine life style. This entails no anger stimulating activities and encourages the convict to become more peacefully oriented. Thus, regardless if the offender is being released or not, as in this case he/she is not, then the behaviour patterns will ultimately change with time to a more stable and productive pattern of lifestyle. This aids in encouraging the offender to become rehabilitated and understand the true meaning of being a worthwhile citizen of the society. This, however, no matter how rehabilitated a convict may become, does not mean that he/she is given a grant to leave. The offenders will serve their sentence, but be able to better comprehend the reality and impact of their actions on the immediate victims and also the rest of the nation. The most immediate impact of life sentencing will be on the immediate victims and their family. This has been proven repetitively by many psychiatrists in their fields of work. Some victims only begin to enjoy life after knowing that the convict is not going to inflict pain or is far away from them so as to be relieved that the situation will not repeat itself. This is a completely understandable occurrence since witnessing and being victims of such heinous crimes will obviously cause immense trauma on the victims and surrounding loved ones. Thus, life sentencing is a means by which everyone who has been jaded by the unfortunate ev...