Effectiveness of the criminal justice system strategies in curbing overcrowding in the Department of Correctional Services

Abstract

The study was conducted to determine the effectiveness of certain criminal justice system strategies in curbing overcrowding of remand detainees with focus on bedspace management, the implementation of bail protocol and the protocol on referral of remand detainees to court for consideration of their length of detention and police bail. The objectives of the study were extended to include the profiling of correctional centres and remand detainees. The profiling of correctional centres includes the determination of occupancy and the categorisation of correctional centres and inmates. The profiling of remand detainees includes the three year population trend, the length of period spent by remand detention based on the oneday snapshot analysis and the cost of detaining remand detainees with bail. A mixed method design was utilised and the concurrent triangulation strategy with multistage purposeful random scheme was employed. Participants were from the Department of Correctional Services and South African Police Service. Data collection methods were interviews, records analysis including policy and historical data, participant observation and focus group. Parallel mixed analysis was conducted with qualitative and quantitative data analysed separately. The integration of qualitative and quantitative data was applied during the interpretation and discussion of results. The study could not determine the effectiveness of such strategies as bedspace management, bail review, referral of remand detainees to court for consideration of their length of detention and police bail in reducing the overcrowding of inmates in the Department of Correctional Services with focus on reducing the population of remand detainees. Though the three-year trend analysis reflects an erratic pattern of increase and reduction in the population of remand detainees, the observed reduction could not be equated to the effectiveness of the strategies under study. The study contributes in the field of criminal justice system by elevating factors that contribute to the availability of bedspaces in corrections environment, sharing of the three-year analysis on the implementation of the bail protocol and the protocol on referral of remand detainees to court for consideration of their length of detention. While the representative sample could not be obtained for police bail, the study elevates the understanding of police bail including its boundaries in relation to court appearance. The study further revealed the importance of developing an electronic system which is aligned with legislative and policy requirements. It is envisaged that the recommendations aligned with the findings in each delineated area will be utilised to effect improvements in policy implementation.