Criminal justice system: Do we need reform in the UK?

National World - LocalTV

For 62% of the public, the courts appear to have insufficient resources to deal with situations like the riots which happened in the summer, which rises to 71% when it comes to belief in policing resources.

Transcript

00:00So we need significant investment in policing, but it's not just down to policing this.

00:07We have the criminal justice system which has had significant underinvestment over the last decade,

00:12and that has its impacts. We have less prison spaces.

00:16We have less capability to get people through the court.

00:19So when you're a witness or a victim of crime, by the time it appears at court,

00:2512 months, 18 months down the line, most people have given up hope and don't attend.

00:29So the offender gets off.

00:31So we have also the disconnect between consequence and the deterrent.

00:36And what was good to see in the recent disorder was that relink between consequence and deterrent in crime.

00:45So we had people going out rioting, violent disorder, being charged with that and put before the courts

00:51and receiving the penalty they should get.

00:54And that woke people up saying, oh, that's unreasonable.

00:57But actually, that established the link between there's a consequence of crime

01:02and that should be the deterrent to the general public.

01:05While it's agreed by many experts that more funding and government reform is needed

01:09to help improve the way the criminal justice system works in the UK,

01:13there are also things we can do to help.

01:16Brian believes the community is vital in taking steps towards a better and safer society for all involved.

01:23There is a lot of good work going on in our communities.

01:26There's a lot of people who give up their time.

01:28I give up my spare time for the benefit of my local community and have them for many years.

01:34And that's what we need, people stepping up and assisting.

01:37But we also need people to take ownership of their own issues.

01:40So if their children are misbehaving or their teenagers, get a grip over them.

01:45Make sure they're not. Give them good parenting skills.

01:49And we seem to always blame the last people in the line,

01:53which tends to be the police that come when it's all gone horribly wrong.

01:56But actually we've all got a big part to play in this.

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