5 Oct 2020

Labour asking voters to back long term justice reform

From Morning Report, 8:17 am on 5 October 2020

Labour is asking voters to back its long term plan to reform the justice system.

In 2017 it promised change to break the cycle of offending and tackle the root causes of crime.

It set the target of reducing the prison population by 30 percent over 15 years, promising to focus on crime prevention and rehabilitation, while boosting frontline police numbers.

While prison numbers are down by just over 11 percent over the term, 45 percent of those released in 2017/2018 were reconvicted within 12 months.

Political reporter Yvette McCullough looks at what's been achieved, and what parties are promising.