Dundonians are more likely to end up behind bars than people from almost anywhere else in Scotland.
The per capita rate of offenders in custody from the city many of whom will end up in Perth Prison is 316 per 100,000 people. This includes young offenders and those on remand but not yet sentenced.
By comparison, the Scottish national rate is just 182 people per 100,000. Only Glasgow, with a per capita rate of 384, has a higher proportion of its population in jail.
The figures were published by Scotland’s chief statistician in the Prison Statistics Scotland 2010-11 bulletin.
As of June 2010, there were 341 adults from Dundee in prison. Most of these 316 were men. There were also 41 young offenders in custody, 36 of which were male.
Ninety adults and nine youths from Angus were in custody, giving a per capita rate of 109. The rate was even lower in Perth and Kinross at 105. A total of 129 people from the local authority area were in jail or on remand.
Some 351 Fifers were in jail, giving a rate of 117 per 100,000 people.
Dundee City West MSP Joe FitzPatrick said there is a clear link between poverty and incarceration but that jailing people is not always the best way to prevent reoffending.
He said: “The report is quite clear that there is a ‘strong correlation’ between imprisonment rates and areas of deprivation. Dundee, like Glasgow, West Dumbartonshire and some other areas, suffers from pockets of long-term deprivation.
“Scottish courts are increasingly turning to non-custodial alternatives which are far more successful at reducing reoffending. However, public safety is the most important thing. If people are committing serious crimes then they need to be put in prison.
“The Scottish Government has increased the levels of funding to the community service system and it offers the prospect of work useful to the community being done by offenders. This will lead to savings in other areas for the government.”
Although Scotland’s average daily prison population had fallen by 1% from the previous year to 7853 the first drop in prisoner numbers in a decade the report states the country’s rising population will see prisoner numbers reach 9500 by 2019/20.’Bang them up’ approachScottish Liberal Democrat leader Willie Rennie said: “The ‘bang them up’ approach costs a fortune and in many cases doesn’t work. The Liberal approach costs less and in so many cases is the best way forward.
“Scotland’s prisons are dangerously overcrowded with prisoners being packed in like sardines. Prisons should not be schools of crime. We need to stop prisoners reoffending on release and being locked up again.
“The innovative programmes being piloted in England to cut reoffending should be considered by the Scottish Government. It costs an awful lot more to keep prisoners in jail than it would to rehabilitate them in the community.”
The figures also revealed that the average daily population of the Scottish Prison Service’s (SPS) open estate at Castle Huntly by Dundee and Noranside near Forfar is well below capacity.
There was an average of 256 inmates per day. Their combined capacity is 297.
The SPS has that Noranside is to close as part of a cost-saving drive. All inmates will be transferred to Castle Huntly by the end of October.
In Perth Prison, the average daily number of inmates is 658. The jail can hold 721 inmates.
The figures also revealed there were 1,112 people untried and on remand in Scottish jails. The overall number of male prisoners decreased by 2% to 7,419, while the number of women increased by 3% to 435.