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Criminals who have escaped prisons will be monitored as closely as those trapped under a plan to create “prisons outside the prison,” the UK Attorney General said.
Shabana Mahmood has asked the leading tech companies to develop broader surveillance outside the prison as they tackle overcrowding and seek ways to save money.
Prime Minister Kiel’s government prime minister is preparing for a major rethinking of criminal policy and has asked David Goke, former Conservative Attorney General, to conduct an independent review of the verdict.
His report is expected to be released within weeks and is expected to cut back on the reversal of the “Prison” mantra of the 1993 “Prison” Michael Howard Lord’s mantra, to reduce the number of people sent to prisons to the Labour government and the length of their sentences.
“If we are going to punish more communities, I want to give the public confidence,” Mahmoud told the Financial Times.
She said artificial intelligence and more sophisticated offender “tagging” technology can be used to better track off offenders in our community and “enable prisons effectively outside of prisons.”
“The place I want to be (for criminals to know that) is, “The eyes of the nation are above you.”
Mahmood said technology can be used to provide “better rehabilitation” for criminals.
Goke previously said that, due to politicians’ efforts that are thought to be “critical” then England and Wales left one of Western Europe’s highest incarceration rates and the prison system near the breakpoint.
The British and Welsh prisons are close to their capabilities when Labour gained power last July. The government released thousands of prisoners early to alleviate overcrowding.
At a meeting in London on Thursday, the Attorney General called on executives from companies such as Microsoft, Amazon Web Services and Google for “bold ideas” on how to better deploy technology in the justice system.
The “Holy Grail” was monitoring tags for drug testing, Mahmoud said. Alcohol monitoring tags, also known as drinking tags, are already in use.
Mahmood also said that he “doesn’t squeal” about using “gait recognition” (a biometric technology that uses cameras or sensors to monitor behavior).
Sam Townend KC, former chairman of Bar Council, said there is “real potential” in using technology to make prison real estate more effective.
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However, he said such projects need to be managed very closely as the Ministry of Justice does not have a good record in technology procurement.”
Mahmoud, who is not based on the funds that could become available for such projects, said he was aware that the deployment of public sector technology was a hassle.
However, she said: “We start with a huge amount of ambition and a desire to learn lessons from what we’ve previously wrong so as not to repeat the same mistakes.”
