HMM! Netherlands Close Prisons For Lack Of Criminals

While prison populations grows in the United Kingdom, with overcrowded cells and repeat offenders, the opposite is happening in the Netherlands.

The Dutch justice ministry has announced that the country is going to close at least 8 prisons due to a lack of criminals.

According to the local media, the country has the capacity for 14,000 prisoners and there are only 12,000 detainees.

The decrease is expected to continue, the ministry said, also the natural redundancy and other measures should counter any forced lay-offs.
A last year report on prison overcrowding said that surging populations undermined the rehabilitation of prisoners and risked increasing reoffending in the future.

The Criminal Justice Alliance (CJA), which represents more than 60 organisations, called for the government to urgently limit "the unnecessary use of prison, ensuring it is reserved for serious, persistent and violent offenders for whom no alternative sanction is appropriate".

It came after Chief Inspector of Prisons Nick Hardwick said the rising pressure on prisons from budget cuts and increasing numbers cannot go on indefinitely.