Community Service: an alternative to incarceration for nonviolent offenders

Dec 10, 2013 News

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By Sunita Samaroo
As Magistrates continue to hand down their decisions, their verdicts, scores of non-violent offenders find themselves subjected to months of mandated community service after they would have been convicted.
Community Service, simply put, is unpaid work, intended to be of social use, that someone who violates the law is sometimes required to do instead of going to prison. Many consider it a constructive penalty. The Magistrate orders the offender to take on the burden of social responsibility towards others.

Social Activist, Raymond Gaskin, is convinced that mandated community service has the potential to serve as an effective punishment and direct alternative to incarceration.
The effects of the system failing, the activist said, are evident when you look at the displacement of the administration of justice. He believes that there are too many people held for years as remanded prisoners on account of petty crimes. The justice system needs a revamp, he added.
“When you look at the prisons there are scores of non violent offenders and it is the “masterminds” who roam the streets. There is a dire need to review the sentencing system in Guyana because there are major inconsistencies” said Gaskin.
The social activist believes that community service for small offences could be a useful alternative to incarceration if properly studied, adequately supervised and if it is utilized as a consistent policy for petty crimes in all courts, in every region of Guyana.
The Narcotics Act of Guyana particularly specifies that should a person be found in possession of one gram or less of a narcotic, one penalty option would be community service and some Magistrates do impose this form of punishment but Gaskin believes that this could be extended to include petty theft.
“It is also a waste of time to send a person who stole something small, like from a market stand or so to prison,” since according to him  it wastes time and taxpayers money to hold people for small offences when they could be benefitting the community rather than draining the country’s coffers.
Gaskin focused on the possibilities of prison riots since the prisons are now overcrowded. He questioned the ability of the prison security to control the prisoners in case of a riot since they are currently “undermanned.”
“We need to look at the situation; we have to deal with these people,” but he further added that in the event a person is sentenced to community service, he should be supervised.
“There needs to be proper law enforcement and supervision and that would definitely cost the state less than prison.”
“The criminal justice system has failed us. The Chancellor and judges should look into the problem of inconsistency and the sentencing policy.”
A few years ago, in Parliament, a Bill to systemize Community Service as a direct alternative for non violent offenders was debated.
Member of Parliament Deborah Barker during the debate had opined that since the Guyana Police Force is already overtaxed, the Social Services Ministry should be made to oversee such a programme.
The late Member of Parliament (MP) Everall Franklin explained that some persons who were convicted of minor offences were fined, but if unable to pay they were consequently imprisoned yet after spending time in prison, these non-violent criminals often emerge as hardened criminals.
In our courts today, it is quite common for non-custodial orders to be imposed on persons which would leave offenders serving at genetic homes, police stations, court rooms or any state institution that the presiding Magistrate may deem fit.
Therein, community correction sanctioning provides a system under which an increase of community service is seen and it is also one under which an offender is punished and held accountable.
Countries like the United States of America, Saint Lucia, Dominica and Trinidad are administering such sanctioning. It is considered effective in those countries because they expend on regulating a system.  They invested in both legislating and systemizing community service to the point where regulations, checks, and follow ups lead to the desired result of such a punishment.
Guyana, however, is left to realise the potential and benefit that can derive from fully systemising community service. In Guyana, offenders are constantly sanctioned to community service even though we have not established an office/bureau which keeps track of the offenders’ performance/contribution.
The Magistrate’s orders require offenders to do unpaid work for the benefit of the community for a specified number of hours within a period of time but Gaskin believe that Guyana needs a point office or person to whom these offenders must report to during or even after the community service sentence.
If offenders are obligated to work at the court or police station where they can be monitored by officers of the law, they would attend because the presiding officers would “be on their backs.”
However, for those sent to different places, it is basically left up to the individuals to somehow develop both the discipline and desire to complete their punishment.
Our courts do not customarily state what exactly these offenders must do. The responsibility is relinquished to the administrators of the particular institutions; they (administrators of the institutions) are the ones who determine what task(s) the offenders would perform.
Offenders sentenced to the Geriatric homes were particularly left with relative freedom to develop community service in appropriate ways.
Marlon Belle, of Guyhoc Park, who was sentenced to perform community service at a geriatric home after he was found with three grams of cannabis some two months ago by the Chief Magistrate, has revealed that community service, has indeed been viewed as a punishment.
Despite the fact that direct instructions were not given upon his sentencing, Marlon has been attending his service. “It is better than being in the lock-ups. Facing this punishment has been helping me to reform my ways.”
“I have other things to do too but I respect this obligation. I don’t want any police story; I will get my act together and do what I need to do” he said.
“By taking away my free time, it puts me on my guard and shows me that I need to be on my toes,” Marlon said.
If the offenders present themselves from the beginning of the sentence, administrators of the institutions can lodge a complaint to the court that the offenders have deviated from their sentence. Non-violent offenders like Belle are aware of this fact and thereafter respect the laws.
In case he fails to adhere to his six-month community service sentence or if he fails to adhere to the scheduled time, the court can further punish him or any other found to have breached a court order.

 

 

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