Prisons chief: Only 14.97% of ex-convicts reoffend

THE national recidivism rate, which measures the tendency of convicted criminals to reoffend, was 14.97% in 2021 and still under control, says Commissioner-General of Prisons Datuk Nordin Muhamad.

“This means for every 100 inmates released, around 15 of them re-enter the prison system within three years.

“This rate is very different from those given a chance under the ‘rehabilitation within communities’ programmes before their release, which recorded a rate of only 0.38% – for 260 inmates released only one has re-entered the prison system,” he said after the Prisons Commissioner-General Award presentation ceremony for Sabah and Labuan at the Labuan Corporation Anjung Budaya Mini Auditorium.

He said the Prisons Department was currently boosting its efforts with rehabilitation-within-community programmes that were considered to be more effective than rehabilitation within facilities (in prison) programmes.

“The former are viewed as more effective in reducing the recidivism rate, and they should be intensified,” he added.

Such rehabilitation programmes were effective, said Nordin, with many inmates getting jobs and receiving salaries as well as other benefits, equal to those enjoyed by regular workers.

He noted that not all inmates qualified to participate in these programmes, and assessments were made based on the risks communities would face.

He said the programmes could reduce crowding in prisons nationwide, which had reached 12% overcapacity although still within manageable levels.

“Efforts are being made to increase prison capacity to 11,000 to accommodate a possible increase in inmates in the future.

“Currently, there are about 70,000 inmates in prisons throughout the country,” he added. — Bernama