Posters Of Criminals Should Go Up In Towns Report Says

Posters of local people who have committed crimes should be put up in towns, according to a tough new report on crime for the Cabinet.

Louise Casey, former head of Tony Blair's Respect task force and author of the report, says the public feels the criminal justice system sides with the perpetrator rather than the victim.

To counter this she proposes a hard-hitting series of initiatives based around naming and shaming offenders.

In addition to the movie posters, Ms Casey wants those offenders doing community punishment to wear distinctive bibs so people see the effects of committing crime.

The idea has been renovated by the government several times without ever becoming law. It is criticised by civil liberties campaigners as draconian.

A spokesperson from the human rights group Liberty said: "The idea of offenders doing community service while wearing uniforms has been doing the rounds of Whitehall since Michael Howard was Home Secretary. It was a stupid idea then and is a clapped-out one now."

The community work projects would be run by private sector companies or charities and renamed 'community payback'.

Also in the report are suggestions for toughing up sentencing and the creation of a 'crime commissioner'.

There are also proposals for protecting victims and witnesses of crime. The elderly, disabled and those nervous of being targeted should be granted anonymity in court in much the same way as children and victims of sexual offences.

June 18, 2008