Groups unite to campaign for punishment without jail

Two Christian groups working in prisons joined forces yesterday to start a campaign to persuade New Zealanders to keep more people out of prison.

The Salvation Army and Prison Fellowship invited all MPs to a meeting at Parliament to hear from a high-powered reference board for the campaign, led by former Governor-General and Anglican Archbishop Sir Paul Reeves.

The Salvation Army's director of social policy, Major Campbell Roberts, said other measures, such as treating mental health problems and addictions, would be more effective in reducing crime than locking offenders in jail.

"We are locking more people away than previously, and for longer periods, but if you said to most people, are they feeling safer, the answer would be no," he said.

"Often the only response that we have to punishment is prison, but there are other options. There are things that are working well. People need to know that."

New Zealand's jail rolls have risen by a third since a tough new sentencing law was passed in 2002, and the country now has the fourth-highest imprisonment rate in the developed world.

But this year the Government has taken steps to slow the growth, introducing new community-based sentences, new sentencing guidelines, a Sentencing Council and two more prison drug and alcohol treatment units.

Major Roberts said everyone accepted that some offenders needed to be locked up for a long time "because there is nothing you are going to be able to do that will change their behaviour".

"But there is an argument about how many people that is," he said.

"I think the tendency is to think that most of the prison population is in that situation, whereas I think it's quite a small number of people."

Most offenders could be helped on to a lawful path with adequate mental health and addiction services.

"We need to make sure there are adequate services available for addicts and for those things which are often driving people into criminal activity in the first place," Major Roberts said.

The Rethinking Crime and Punishment campaign would provide factual material to balance the emotions stirred up by individual violent crimes, he said.

Other reference board members include Auckland University law professor Warren Brookbanks, South Auckland Christian social worker Sam Chapman, Maxim Institute director Greg Fleming, former prison manager Celia Lashlie, former Ombudsman Mel Smith, Youth Court Judge Stan Thorburn and church leaders.