Public too quick to judge when it comes to crime

The public's attitude to crime and sentencing is often uninformed and it would be wrong to shape penal policy on those views, say two international experts brought here by the Ministry of Justice.

Instead penal policy should "lead public opinion" within the limits of tolerance, said Professor Mike Hough, the director of the Institute for Criminal Policy Research at London's King's College, and Dr Julian Roberts from the Centre for Criminology at Oxford University.

They spoke to politicians, justice experts and community leaders yesterday at a seminar the ministry held in Wellington.

They said research showed a wide range of misconceptions resulted in the belief that judges were soft, and the call for offenders to get tougher treatment.

But when the public was given more information about particular cases or played a role in determining sentences, they tended to act like judges and often opted for less punitive sentences than those imposed by the courts.

Professor Hough said "off the top of the head" public opinion was cynical about judges and sentencing, but changed considerably when further specific information was made available.

Dr Roberts listed a wide range of public misconceptions which he said were found across a range of countries.

The public typically believed the system was tilted towards offenders, not victims, was suspicious of community-based sentences like home detention, and believed judges considered inappropriate factors such as discounts for early guilty pleas.

Professor Hough said the research showed the public required greater information about crime and sentencing and mounted a "good case for having a sentencing council to take the job of educating the public".

It would create a distance between politicians and sentencing, which was likely to be a good thing, he said.

Justice Minister Mark Burton, who is co-ordinating a strategy to reduce the prison population, said a broad and well-informed public debate on the issues was needed.

Experts' view

The public:

* Always thinks the crime rate is increasing, even though there has been a downward trend internationally since the mid-1990s. (NZ's overall crime rate is declining and at its lowest in 25 years, although there's been a rise in violent crime.)

* Wildly over-estimates recidivism rates.

* Has no real understanding of sentencing options.

* Underestimates the severity of the system and of amount of jail time served.

* Over-estimates the proportion of people given parole and the recidivism rates of people serving community-based sentences.

* Mistakenly believes prison is a "pretty easy place".

* Overestimates the extent to which jail reduces the crime rate.