Grant Stevens South Australia Police

40 per cent of parolees reoffend

Senior police have expressed concern at the high levels of repeat offending revealed by shock figures and have suggested that existing rehabilitation programs and the way courts deal with such offenders need to be examined.

Assistant Commissioner (Crime) Grant Stevens said the figures were "an eye-opener" and conceded that police were often frustrated when they encountered the same criminals and when "dealing with people who don't respond to the justice system".

"There is an element of frustration and this is not just about parolees," he said. "Given the anticedence of some offenders and their established past histories of breaching bail and parole conditions we are sometimes mystified by the decision to grant bail or parole."

The figures reveal that of the 161 prisoners paroled between January 1 and March 31 last year, 65 reoffended within 12 months of being released. Of the 161 prisoners, 136 were classed as "automatic release" while 25 were released after a Parole Board hearing.

Of those 25 prisoners, 13 reoffended (52 per cent) while of the 136 prisoners, 52 reoffended (38 per cent). The crimes they committed included murder, sex offences, violence related offences, property offences and drug offences.

Mr Stevens would not comment on the success of rehabilitation programs inside the state's prisons but suggested the community needed to examine "what is working and what is not".

"There is a clear indicator that people released on parole are committing crime and not at the minor level," he said.

"We are not talking about technical parole violations, we are talking about substantive offences, serious offences.

"There are a large number who appear to be not responding to any sort of rehabilitation programs or interventions that are provided. The only way to ensure community safety is when these people are in custody."

He said there was also a perception among many police that "courts take a lenient approach when considering bail or in terms of sentencing" but added that "it may be the case police who form that view don't have possession of all of the facts".

Mr Stevens said police believed community safety must be a key factor in any decision concerning parole or bail and ensure those who present a risk are not given the opportunity to impact on community safety.

The State Government earlier this month revealed a raft of measures aimed at tightening parole laws.

SA police targeting traffic offences - www.drive.com.au

South Australian police, including detectives, have been directed to pull over more motorists in a state-wide crackdown on traffic offences.

Every uniformed police officer has been told to make at least 70 traffic stops a year from July, a rise of 20 stops from last year.

Assistant police commissioner Grant Stevens said every police officer, including detectives and specialised crime investigators, would be expected to pull over at least one more driver every two weeks for road safety offences.

Mr Stevens denied the new benchmarks were aimed to raise revenue for the government, saying the crackdown was a police-driven decision designed to lower the road toll.

"I think it is a brave person that says someone who is the victim of a murder or a serious assault is more important than someone who is seriously injured or killed in a motor vehicle crash," Mr Stevens told ABC radio.

"We got to remember that this is an epidemic that we are dealing with in terms of the number of people who are being seriously injured or killed on our roads.

"We need to be doing some fairly innovative things if we are going to reduce the road toll even further.

The price of justice?, lengthy criminal trials in Australia

The South Australian state reports

The Mirror of Parliament for the ... session of the ... Parliament of Great Britain and Ireland

the Mirror of Parliament

APAIS, Australian public affairs information service, a subject index to current literature