NCJ Number
104870
Date Published
1984
Length
7 pages
Annotation
The Prison Reform Trust's critical examination of security classification procedures in British prisons concludes that overall levels of security are too high and suggests several reforms to promote uniformity, flexibility, and opportunities for appeal.
Abstract
The report argues that issues of classification, allocation, prison building, and contact between prisons and the outside world are interrelated and that the Prison Department's plans to construct additional high security prisons will reinforce trends toward overclassification. Changes in the classification categories introduced by the Mountbatten Report are suggested. The review also recommends establishing specific guidelines to help prison officials make classification decisions and improving training in these procedures. Moreover, prisoners should be told why they are allocated to a particular security level and procedures established for appeal and periodic review. The report endorses full utilization of open prisons. A final section emphasizes that current classification procedures are haphazard, unaccountable, and largely determined by the level of available accommodation.