Netherlands to close prisons

[Dust Bunnies]

Excerpt from article: "The Dutch justice ministry has announced it will close eight prisons and cut 1,200 jobs in the prison system. A decline in crime has left many cells empty."
http://www.nrc.nl/international/article2246821.ece/Netherlands_to_close_prisons_for_lack_of_criminals

This is interesting news, what are the Dutch doing right? Belgium, their neighbor has too many criminals.

[und]

This is interesting news, what are the Dutch doing right? Belgium, their neighbor has too many criminals.
And here in the UK we have an overcrowding problem.

[KC]

I don't get it; why don't they just contract out these cells to other countries, whose prisons are overflowing? They'd be able to keep those workers employed and they'd be making money.

These guys suck at being capitalists.

[Q]

I don't get it; why don't they just contract out these cells to other countries, whose prisons are overflowing? They'd be able to keep those workers employed and they'd be making money.

These guys suck at being capitalists.
From the article:

Some reprieve might come from a deal with Belgium, which is facing overpopulation in its prisons. The two countries are working out an agreement to house Belgian prisoners in Dutch prisons. Some five-hundred Belgian prisoners could be transferred to the Tilburg prison by 2010.
The Netherlands would get 30 million euros in the deal, and it will allow the closing of the prisons in Rotterdam and Veenhuizen to be postponed until 2012.

[Panda Tse Tung]

Irony must be that 2/3 years ago the dutch government was thinking about prisoners having to share cells because they we're so full...

[Eastside Revolt]

"This is interesting news, what are the Dutch doing right? Belgium, their neighbor has too many criminals. "

I hope your using tongue and cheek!:unsure:

Empty cells or otherwise, all prisons, everywhere, should be closed fourthwith.

[Dust Bunnies]

"This is interesting news, what are the Dutch doing right? Belgium, their neighbor has too many criminals. "

I hope your using tongue and cheek!:unsure:

Empty cells or otherwise, all prisons, everywhere, should be closed fourthwith.

I agree prisons are a bit barbaric, but it is interesting how two neighboring countries have two opposite situations.

[An archist]

A bit off-topic maybe, but Belgium has absolutely terrible jails, the overcrowding was already mentioned, and on top of that, a lot of jails are simply too old, there's one-man cells with three people inside and a bucket instead of a toilet.
There's a lot of psychiatric patients who need treatment, but instead are simply put in a seperate prison wing, without treatment. Guards are simply not capable of running prisons, so every now and then an inmate dies because of an overdose of sedatives.
Last two-three years there were several, sometimes spectacular, escapes, prison riots and prison-guard strikes.
The situation at the moment seems to worsening, with less fights against prison guards and more gang fights.

[Invariance]

Actually, there have been prison guard strikes and blockades just recently in protest of poor conditions prisoners face in France (http://www.monthlyreview.org/mrzine/france090509.html).

[An archist]

Ah, well in Belgium the guards usually strike because they have to work in bad and insecure conditions, not because of the prisoners' conditions.