The price of a day in a Finnish prison has risen over the past decade, which has encouraged a shift to wider use of open prison facilities and probation for offenders.
Every prisoner in a closed prison costs society € 82,500 a year. This is over € 225 a day and a 10% increase over the last decade.
Guests can stay for the same price in a quality room at a hotel in central Helsinki.
However, the number of prisoners in prisons has decreased by more than 500 over the last ten years, which has reduced spending by tens of millions of euros. Nevertheless, the price per prisoner continues to rise.
"This is due, among other things, to the fact that, for example, salaries and the operating costs of the institution are high in relation to variable costs. If the number of prisoners decreases, the unit price will increase. EUR 100 for three prisoners is EUR 33 and four EUR 25," I show Mika Ulmanen, The accountant of the penitentiary institution, explains it.
In other words, the fixed costs of prisons will not decrease even if the number of prisoners decreases.
Keeping several prisoners in open penitentiaries would be much cheaper for society. A day in an open prison costs 168 euros per prisoner. The supervised probationary period costs EUR 63 per prisoner per day.
The population is aging, fewer criminals
Nearly two-thirds of the country’s prisoners serve their sentences in confined spaces.
The total number of prisoners, including those in closed institutions, open prisons, and supervised probation, averaged 2,800 last year. In 2020, there were 152 fewer prisoners than in the previous year.
According to the Penal Sanctions Agency, the coronavirus pandemic temporarily affected the figures, limiting the commencement of some short-term prison sentences and the penalties that were converted from fines to imprisonment. The restrictions ended last summer.
In the longer term, a significant factor in the decline in the number of prisoners is the aging of the population. Overall, the number of crimes reported to the police has decreased for a wide range of serious crimes.
Open spaces and trial period
Due to cost savings, the Criminal Sanctions Agency has increasingly transferred prisoners to open spaces and supervised probation.
Agency officials see several advantages in open prisons compared to closed penitentiaries. Good results have been achieved in open prison rehabilitation activities by breaking the prison cycle, which also reduces costs.
The target for the utilization rate of open prisons is 90%. This year, it has dropped to 84 percent. To improve occupancy rates, officials are considering allowing more inmates to begin their sentences in open spaces instead of moving to the top behind inmates.
Supervised probation is also a means of facilitating the adjustment of prisoners to normal life and is even less extensive than an open prison.
A supervised probationary period may be granted up to six months before the date of parole or full sentence.
The goal of the penitentiary institution for prisoners on probation this year is 235, next year 240.
Unauthorized leaves rise
Because open prisons lack physical barriers, inmates cannot "escape" of these services, but some take advantage of the temptation "absence without leave".
Last year, 73 prisoners walked out of open penitentiaries without permission. That was twice as much as in 2019. The Penal Sanctions Agency believes that the most likely explanation for the increase was the significantly tightened exit permit policy implemented due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Leaving an open space should not be considered an escape. However, when a prisoner is arrested who has left an open facility without permission, he or she may be sentenced to a maximum of 10 days in solitary confinement.
Source: The Nordic Page