News UK Prisoners using PS3s to commit crime?

http://www.bit-tech.net/news/gaming/2009/05/14/uk-prisoners-using-ps3s-to-commit-crime/1

The Serious Organised Crime Agency has claimed that convicts in the UK are using PS3s to commit crime from within prison.

 

sounds a little bit like the fox bit on paedophiles using pictochat to steal your children.

 

..What happened to prison being a place you really didn't want to go to?

These days it seems like regular life, but with some slight restrictions on where you can go :/

 

dont bloody give them internet access then.

 

Playstation 3 in prisons? WHAT! I don't even get a TV in my room at school and we PAY for me to go here...

 

The EU happened.

They call it "Human Rights"
I call it a joke.

 

prison is a joke now.

got a friend who used to work in a womans prison and its its just bloody ridiculous. They get flat screen TVs, consoles, DVDs all sorts. They even do work within the prison get paid for it and can order stuff from ARGOS !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.

They have more luxuries than people on the outside.

My friend talk to a few of them and they said they liked it inside, everything was paid for, all there friends were here and they dont have to do anything other than stay within the prison grounds. once out they said they would just rob someone, assault steal etc to get back inside !!!!!!!!!!!! cause life is better.

+1 human rights are a f***king JOKE. im ok with basic humans rights such as food, shelter and water etc. but not the crap they have added over the years.

 

Oh.. So breaking the law isn't a punishable offence?

And how is a PS3 a human right?

Last I checked human rights were mostly along the lines of living, freedom of speech etc.

When someone violates the law, they forfeit their right to general freedom - Why the **** should they be put in prison only to be given access to entertainment systems? Educational stuff I have no issue with - But why the hell do they get entertainment systems?

Why am I paying taxes for them to live better than homeless people because they scream human rights when someone takes their luxury items away when they break the law?

Edit: Wow, for a second there I thought you were behind the idea. Didn't mean to come off all asshole-y about it.

 

^^ Agreed.

Availability of entertainment is not on the universal declaration of human rights.
I suppose the only (weak) argument is that boredom is torture... but tbh, If you can't do the time...

 

Wow. This if the posts about are be believed we are being far to nice to criminals.

I am all for getting them to work hard, learning skills to help keep them from re-offending would be great. At the very least there should be a massive hamster wheel in each to help provide electricity for the prison block! (I am not 100% serious about the last suggestion!!)

 

Prison - is a place where can play games without being distracted by your duties.

 

So if they use the PS3 to plat GTA it would be ok... ;D

 

I don't think prisons should be horrible places. I think their sole purpose is to keep you incarcerated (up to 23 hours a day, remember that most prisons are overcrowded and understaffed so you will be locked in your cell with a wall for company most of the time), but there is no harm at all in giving you some basic home comforts. There should be a base standard of human existence and whether you're a prisoner or a CEO you should receive that basic standard. The higher that basic standard, the better the society. So in Ethiopia you're lucky if you get water, over here practically everyone gets a house, food, warmth, things to do regardless of what you do, just because you are in this country. I don't think that's a bad thing, in fact I think we should be proud. Although it is telling of the times when some people are so unable to get anything for themselves that they rely on the prison services to give them these basics. So it's probably more indicative of a wider social problem than specifically a problem within the prison services.

 

You make an interesting point dreaming but why should criminals get the food, water, warmth, PS3s etc first before the homeless or poor?

It is an indication of a greater problem, namely the overly-PC, nanny-state we live in where human-rights for criminals seems to be more important than the rights of their victims.

IMO, prison shouldn't be a place you want to go, it shouldn't be an easy life.
If they're over-crowded and understaffed, spend less on flatscreens and consoles and more on staff and new prisons.
Make the prisoners do work of some kind but not for luxuries, for the basics like food and water etc.
Everyone on the outside needs to work to feed themselves so why should the dregs of society be given them for free?

The whole thing sounds utterly retarded IMO.

 

Problem is, they're (the prisoners) not just getting basics, they're getting luxuries.

 

Just give them a 2 x 2m cell, a wind up torch and there thoughts to guide them.

Prison system is a joke.

 

Or remove it from the prison?

Disagree. That is one purpose (keeping criminals off the streets) and falls within the scope of "Prevention". There are 5 principal justifications for punishment, and prevention is just one. The others are retribution, deterrence, rehabilitation and restitution. No matter what your views on retribution as justification (an eye for an eye, etc.), the others are valid. Restitution includes the payment of damages and - in the case of prison sentences - the fact that victims feel justice is done.

If I were the victim of a serious crime, I would expect the perpetrator to be punished. Being sent to a nice fluffy building full of TVs and video games does not in my view constitute adequate punishment, notwithstanding that it imposes physical restrictions on movement.

And there is no deterrent effect if prison offers a better standard of living than the outside.

Access to the internet as an educational tool is in my view justifiable for prisoners, as it goes towards skills-building and rehabilitation. As such, they should have rationed, supervised access to basic computer facilities connected to the net by a heavily firewalled, monitored and filtered connection. Similarly, they should have access to libraries. I don't think prisoners should be denied all entertainment, so limited access to television in supervised common areas is justified (also occasional DVD screenings), as is access to recreational reading material. Similarly they should get basic sports facilities for relaxation and fitness. Beyond that, though, there is no justification for providing state of the art games consoles, expensive gym equipment etc.

 

prisoners DO NOT spend 23hrs a day in a cell, as ive said my friend worked in a prison they spent most of the time free to roam around only been lockup at night time.

now how is this any different to a normal person.

We go to work, come bk watch tele, entertain ourselves and go into our bedrooms and go to bed.


About the only difference prisoners have is that there are limited to the grounds of the prison which for most is fine as they wouldnt be going anywhere anyway.

on my daily routine i dont travel all over the place, i go to work, come home and entertain myself for a few hours and go to bed and do it all over again the next day. Granted my life isnt just this i get out sometimes lol.

so basically how is what i do on a daily basis any different than that of a prisoners except i have to work to do this and they dont.

The only 1 big issue is freedom i can go where ever i want if i choose to prisoners cant. so basically im working to be free.

 

Yeah, that and the fact you can go to bed at night safe in the knowledge that (a) you aren't a lowlife scumbag; and (b) you aren't liable to be woken up by a big hairy man who wants to treat you to some good times.

 

OMG, there's somebody else out there with some common sense and sensible views. You'd got my vote for Prime Minister!