Are private prisons safe, efficient, and effective? How would you rate them in effectiveness as compared to public sector prisons? Make sure you define ‘effective’ for your professor… and support your position with well reasoned argument.
The prison system in Washington state is being severely stretched by overcrowding, threatening the safety of the staff, the inmates and the surrounding communities. Without new prisons, law enforcement officials will be forced to make difficult decisions about which dangerous criminals should be incarcerated and which should be allowed back onto the street. Unfortunately, because of tight budgets and other pressing needs, building enough government run prisons to safely hold the increasing inmate population is not financially feasible.A sensible solution to this problem is competitive contracting for prison construction and management. Throughout the nation and the world, vigorous competition among public and private prison firms is used to reduce the high cost of incarceration, while maintaining the high quality of service local communities expect. Market pressures and government oversight have combined to produce a responsive, efficient and effective private prison industry that can meet the demands of our state while encouraging existing government facilities to operate at an equally high level. Prison privatization does not mean giving over control of prisoners to big corporations. Sentencing and oversight are still managed by the state, but taxpayers benefit from the competitive pressures introduced by private competition. This study finds that a well-managed competitive contracting program can reduce the cost of prison services to the government, open up new markets for Washington businesses, and increase the quality and efficiency of existing government facilities (Montague, Eric, 2001).
A private prison, jail, or detention center is a place in which individuals are physically confined or interned by a third party that is contracted by a local, state or federal government agency. Private prison companies typically enter into contractual agreements with local, state, or federal governments that commit prisoners and then pay a per diem or monthly rate for each prisoner confined in the facility. Today, the privatization of prisons refers both to the takeover of existing public facilities by private operators and to the building and operation of new and additional prisons by for-profit prison companies. A private prison, jail, or detention center is a place in which individuals are physically confined or interned by a third party that is contracted by a local, state or federal government agency. Private prison companies typically enter into contractual agreements with local, state, or federal governments that commit prisoners and then pay a per diem or monthly rate for each prisoner confined in the facility. Today, the privatization of prisons refers both to the takeover of existing public facilities by private operators and to the building and operation of new and additional prisons by for-profit prison companies (Smith, Adrian, 2012).
From what I have read it seems to me that a private sector is better than a public sector. But it just cost
