09/05/2011

Home Detention Curfew Effect Examined

A report highlighting evidence that suggests offenders who receive Home Detention Curfew (HDC) under the current provision, are no more likely to engage in criminal behaviour when released from prison, when compared to offenders with similar characteristics, who are not eligible for HDC. The evidence also points towards the importance of certain factors taken into account when selecting prisoners for HDC.

This study used centrally held data on 499,279 discharges from prison between January 2000 and March 2006, with 63,384 discharged receiving HDC. Offender criminal histories and reoffending information were extracted from the Police National Computer to evaluate the effectiveness of HDC in terms of reducing reoffending.

(BMcN/GK)

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