Cut crime by giving offender free money!

[SevenStarsHK2N]

Hello everyone.

Meet 'David', David has been arrested for the 4th time now.

he received a caution at the age of 19 for stealing a car and joy riding.
he received a reprimand at the age of 22 for a burglary - and was linked to many more - but this was un-proven
he received his final warning at age 23 for shoplifting.

Now aged 23 and a half - he has been arrested once more for shoplifting several large steaks and some expensive wine from Tesco

He was planning to sell the goods in local pubs - for a fraction of the cost in store.

Some of the money would have been spent to fund Davids addiction, some of it on random things such as food.
David is unemployed at the moment - mostly because having no qualifications and growing up on a poor housing estate - his only real career options are McDonalds.


NOW:
traditionally - David would end up in front of magistrates - they would see his record (he has confessed to the crime - cctv) and David would receive a short custodial sentence - lets say 1 year.

This would cost the government some 50-60,000 pounds.
The chance of David coming out of prison and re-offending are high.
David would also make friends and connections with other criminals - sharing tips and tricks of the trade as it were.

When David leaves prison - he is in the exact same position he was in before. Poor with few prospects - only now having served a prison sentence - he is even less employable.

There is a theory - which goes completely against instinct - and has not been fully fleshed out.
but it goes as follows:
David is not sent to prison: he is instead given a government subsidized flat - in a location away from his current residence - away from his bad influence friends - he is then given £25,000 cash - and up to 15,000 is allocated to him in the form of educational grants - and David is helped to get on a vocational course that will give him lots of experience

So Option 1: traditional punishment / rehabilitation : end result in 3/4 years:
Chances are David is now a career criminal - costing society more and more money - living of benefits - eventually ending up in prison again - this time for longer - David has cost the state several million by the time he is 30. there is little to no chance of the government ever getting that money back - David also has 5 kids with 3 different mums - they are born into the same poverty trap that he was - history begins to repeat itself when his son Jake, aged 12 is caught stealing games from HMV when he should have been going to school.

Option 2: Enablement rehabilitation: end result 3/4 years
David for the first time actually got to experience what it's like to have enough money to just be comfortable and be able to buy a few nice things - as part of the conditions for not going to prison - David had to leave his old life behind, and pass the course:
David is now a plumber - he earns over £50,000 a year and is expected to earn a 6 figure salary within the next 5 years.
David pays tax and National Insurance: he takes pride in the fact that he can afford nice things: that he has a sweet Audi and he bought it completely legit.
He earns enough money to send his kids to nice private schools - because he wants to give his kids a better start than he had. at aged 18 his eldest son Jake begins university on route to becoming a doctor

so if option 2: has a better outcome, is cheaper to do, and results in the state making profit, especially in the long run.
why do we still use a criminal "justice" system that hasn't moved on much from the middle ages?

is it time to re-think the way we "tackle" crime caused and committed by those born and trapped in poverty?

 

[Petaris]

How about Option 3?

Help to prevent David from ever becoming a criminal by the means of social programs aimed at helping those who are destitute, low income, or otherwise impoverished. I don't mean hand-out programs but how about educational, work, health, and other "hand up" instead of "hand out" programs?

Programs that would benefit the population and community as a whole.

Just an idea...

 

[BrianLewis]

Option 4, cut off said finger until he has to steal with his feet.

Seriously, any society that rewards criminals for their infractions in inciting anarchy. What message does this send besides "why bother working."

What he needs is to dig up trash along the roadside for a significant period of time until he learns how to feed himself by sweating.

There are already programs that target troubled youth. I am assuming he avoided all of that.

- David had to leave his old life behind, and pass the course:
David is now a plumber - he earns over £50,000 a year and is expected to earn a 6 figure salary within the next 5 years.
David pays tax and National Insurance: he takes pride in the fact that he can afford nice things: that he has a sweet Audi and he bought it completely legit.

I am sorry to be forward, but you clearly don't know what addicts are like. You can give them the keys to the city and they would throw it all away to lay in a gutter.

 

[RolandtheHeadless]

"Better outcome" of Option 2: message sent to others that crime DOES pay. Steal some stuff, then get the government handouts.

What an idiotic idea. Only in the UK.

 

[Mark of Zorro]

If you want to help a hungry man, don't hand him a fish. Teach him how to fish.

That was vital to option two. So why did you shorten it to give him free money?

Option 2 was to give him both some starting money and the means to get more. And it sounds like a good start to me.

But its too simple, as all things are in the beginning. Eventually I would like see programs that make people addicted to a job or profession. Money will be the happy by-product.

We should run with and work with a program like option 2, and not expect instant or total success. We should expect failures, learn from them, and adjust. The current methods are inadequate. Something new has to be tried.