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Publications · Human rights and justice, Prisons

Breaking point

Understaffing and overcrowding in prisons

  • ISBN: 978-1-905994-79-3

  • Published: 2014

  • Pages: 6

  • Publisher: The Howard League for Penal Reform

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Breaking point

Research by the Howard League revealed that prison officer numbers in England and Wales were cut by 30 per cent between 2010 and 2013.

The drop in officer numbers nationwide coincided with a deepening prison overcrowding crisis and an alarming rise in the number of self-inflicted deaths in custody.

The report warned that suicides, assaults and riots would become increasingly common unless urgent action was taken to increase officer numbers and reduce prisoner numbers.

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