A prison service

A prison service is needed in addition to police and courts. The prison service is needed so that there can be punishment and people can be incarcerated where the courts have determined that there is a breach of law and incarceration is called for.

Handling violent offenders

A prison service is a specialized activity that requires considerable expertise and it also requires a substantial budget.

Handling petty crime

Petty crime should be taken seriously, but it should not be handled in a way that encourages petty offenders to move on to more serious crime. Rather, a first offense should be handled in a way so that a first offense is also a last offense.

Prisons

Prisons need to be improved in terms of their physical facilities and the recurrent costs associated with their operations. These establishments are not nice places. Some work on rehabilitating inmates needs to be available as well as resources for their general operation.

The prisons in Haiti are terrible. Prisons are needed in almost any society, but they ought to be able to meet certain minimum standards of human dignity. Neither system at the present time comes up to the minimum standards that one would hope to see.