NCJ Number
193940
Journal
Corrections Today Volume: 64 Issue: 1 Dated: February 2002 Pages: 38-41
Date Published
2002
Length
4 pages
Annotation
This article reviews the need for an independent inspection of prisons to safeguard the public and promote correctional excellence.
Abstract
Inspection reports of prisons inform the community while highlighting poor performance and good practices. The chief inspector of prisons in the United Kingdom, who is appointed by the queen, has no executive powers and is independent from those involved in prison operations. The inspection team consists of several inspectors and two senior prison governors. The details of the inspections and how they are carried out is left to the chief inspector. When a particular issue arises for discrete inmate groups, the inspectorate examines it in detail and, if required, carries out a thematic inspection focusing solely on that issue, e.g., remands or women. Following inspection, detailed reports are published and made available to prison management, staff, and inmates. Reports are also distributed to the wider public. Each penal establishment, including those that are privately run, receives a formal inspection on a cyclical basis. Some reports in recent years have led to wider improvements. For example, there have been improvements in conditions of female offenders. Inspectors have also highlighted the need in all prisons for greater resources to address the increasing threat from illegal drug use, which often leads to imprisonment. Among the questions that inspectors asked when reviewing the conditions of a prison included the following: Do people die in prison? If so, why and what can be done to prevent it? Are the particular needs of older inmates being addressed? What is being prescribed for drug withdrawal symptoms? How many inmates are being referred to state mental institutions? Are conditions decent in the prison? What is being done to prevent escapes? And what is being done about rehabilitation or the correctional agenda? The use of independent prison inspections is applicable not only to the United Kingdom, but to other nations in the free world. 1 Note