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Courts contribute to 10% decrease in prison population
New figures indicate favourable bail decisions and sympathetic sentences contributed to a significant decrease in the prison population during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Naomi Neilson
The Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research (BOCSAR) has revealed a “remarkable” decline in the NSW prison population over eight weeks from mid-March 2020. Between March and May 2020, the prison population decreased 10.7 per cent, or 1,508 people.
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According to the new figures, these results were a direct result of the COVID-19 social distancing and mitigation strategies in the community and in the justice system, which led to many would-be criminals receiving lighter-to-no sentences.
While the majority of the fall was due to a reduction in the number of people on remand waiting for their court cases, the figures indicated it was also due to a dip in the number of charges laid by police, an increase in people released from remand to wait out their court cases and more favourable bail decisions by both police and courts.
BOCSAR executive director Jackie Fitzgerald said: “The community lockdown saw the falls in many crime categories which led to fewer charges.”
“In addition, operational changes within the justice system had an impact, including the postponement of cases, changes in bail decisions and release of people on remand.”
The sentenced prisoner population declined after the courts reduced hearings and had fewer people available to sentence. The youth detention prison population also saw a major decline, falling by 27 per cent, or by 73 detainees, from February to June 2020.
