... prisoners from the peak in July 1998 when 66,156 people were in prison, but an increase of 50% from 1990. The number held in prison relative to the population is the second highest in Europe, Portugal being the highest. This figure is the equivalent to 122 people for every 100,000 of the population. By comparison Greece is 50, Norway is 55 and Sweden is 60. Of this figure approximately twenty percent of those in prison are on remand. The fall in numbers from the 1998 high is accounted for by the introduction of Home Detention Curfew, tagging. In order to determine whether prison reduces crime we must examine how crime is measured. Official crime rates and statistics are amassed from the records of the forty three different police forces of England and Wales and published each year in Criminal Statistics. Recorded crimes are those that the public report to the police ...

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