TORONTO - Prison privatization has been a massive headache for
governments around the world, a new study confirms.
The report, Private Adult Correctional Facilities:
Fines, Failures, and Dubious Practices, looks at privatization in
the United States, Britain, New Zealand, and Australia, and documents
a record of violence and escapes. In addition, the report says, “The
most recent studies show that claims for substantial cost savings
still cannot be realized.”
The report’s author, Stephen Nathan, is highly
regarded as an international authority on privatized criminal justice
and has been writing about it since 1981. Based in London, England,
Nathan is editor of the influential newsletter Prison Privatisation
Report International and a regular contributor to television and
radio programs.
“It is important to point out that the incidents and
problems [described in the report] have all occurred after
companies convinced the respective contracting authorities that they
could perform well enough to win and operate a contract,” writes
Nathan.
Huge financial losses linked to bad publicity from
failed privatizations is putting enormous pressure on prison companies
to cut corners in their operations, according to Barry Scanlon, chair
of the Corrections Ministry Employee Relations Committee for the
Ontario Public Service Employees Union.
“The Ontario government keeps talking about setting
standards to try to make their proposed private superjail in
Penetanguishene safe,” said Scanlon, a correctional officer at the
Waterloo Detention Centre. “The record shows that privatization, by
its very nature, creates intense pressure to boost profits by cutting
back on the safety of inmates, workers, and the community.”
Nathan’s report is available on-line at
