October 27, 2012

Dutch incarceration rate dropped 44% in 5 years

Filed under: General by Branko Collin @ 2:36 pm

In 2010 there were 75 prisoners per 100,000 inhabitants in the Netherlands.

This is down 44% from 134 prisoners in 2005, according to a study by the Research and Documentation Centre of the Ministry of Security. RTL Nieuws reports that Estonia had a greater absolute drop in inmates, from 327 to 259.

A spokesperson of the ministry told the broadcaster that reason for the strong decline in inmates is that the number of serious felonies has decreased a lot.

The thing that struck me in the 664 pages long report is how few prisoners we used to have. In 1980 the Netherlands had 23 prisoners per 100,000 inhabitants:

See also:

(Photo by Moira Durano-Abesmo, some rights reserved)

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May 4, 2010

Television sets stolen from prison

Filed under: General by Branko Collin @ 10:54 am

Last month, unknown burglars stole televisions sets from prison cells in Hoorn — twice. The prisoners of Het Keern were on leave, and the second time around the burglars seem to have disabled the alarm.

The justice department suspects an inside job, Telegraaf writes.

Het Keern is a low security prison for inmates who are about to be released.

(Photo by Ken Mayer, some rights reserved)

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August 10, 2008

Seven artists escape abandoned prison

Filed under: Art by Branko Collin @ 11:01 am

Seven artists escaped an abandoned gaol at the Oostereiland prison island in Hoorn last week. The “prisoners” were participating in an experiment that would see them creating art in a secluded setting for a month, but when they got there, they found the setting a little bit too barbaric. The artists had to sleep on air mattresses and carry chairs from other parts of the complex to their cells.

Six of the original 13 Isolations members remained behind, although what they could possibly learn about prison life under such harsh conditions boggles the imagination.

(Link: Via Trendbeheer (Dutch). Photo by Aapo Haapanen, some rights reserved)

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March 31, 2008

Belgium looking to rent jail cells abroad

Filed under: General by Orangemaster @ 9:13 am
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Belgium wants to rent some 300 jail cells from jails in Breda and Maastricht, cities close to the Belgian border. According to the Belgian media, the country has some 10,000 prisoners (out of some 10,5 million inhabitants), while there is only room for 8,500. In the Netherlands some 20% of jail cells are empty. So far, the Dutch government has said no and suggested that they might rent or sell jail boats to the Belgians, which didn’t really ‘float’ with the Belgian government.

You could draw all kinds of conclusions from this article, the kind of article you learn to analyse at school to show off your debating skills: Why are Dutch prisons empty? Why are Belgian prisons full? What’s wrong with boats? And so on.

(Link: omroepbrabant.nl)

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