Wiltshire PCC calls for more prisons to ease overcrowding
Philip Wilkinson's responded after more inmates are released to make space
Wiltshire's Police and Crime Commissioner is calling for prisons to be built to ease the issue of overcrowding.
Philip Wilkinson has spoken to Greatest Hits Radio just days after another wave of prisoners were released - in a bid by the Government to free up jail space.
The PCC said that move is 'the least worst option' but told us it's still a 'bad' one.
Mr Wilkinson said he's hoping there will be something in the Chancellors budget on Wednesday about building more prisons.
Although he expects resistance from local people if plans for a second jail in Wiltshire are tabled.
"Think of the problem that I am having trying to find a site for a police station in the South of the county!" he said, adding: "Everybody wants a police station and as soon as you suggest it might come close to them, they throw their arms up and start shouting at me.
"It's not sexy, it's not fun, it's not attractive, but prisons and police stations are essential if we're going to keep the county safe."
Wiltshire has one prison, Erlestoke.
The PCC added that more needs to be done to reduce the volume of illegal immigration into the UK, describing the number of illegal immigrants ending up in the criminal justice sector as "horrendous".
Mr Wilkinson said: "It is a fact that many of those people who are coming into this country are doing so for illegal purposes.
"If we had a better screening process, so we only let those people into the country who were in dire need and had been persecuted at home, but if they're just economic migrants, then we need to be more selective who we let in."
But he told us there's room for improvement when it comes to keeping people out of prison, by using schemes that aim to steer first-time offenders away from criminal behaviour.
The PCC said out of court resolutions and Community pay back programmes should be used more often.
Mr Wilkinson explained how the out of court resolution works: "We can administer less robust punishments, educational activities to try and persuade them not to go down that route again."
The Community pay back scheme see's offenders take part in litter picks and helping clearing away fly-tipping.
But the PCC said these need more support from probation services, but they in turn need greater resources to help reduce reoffending.
He said: "If we had more resources working with probation we could perhaps do, which means we wouldn't have as many people in prison or going back into prison.
"So yes, we've got to build more prisons, but I think there is more investment that can be made across the criminal justice sector."