Comparing Public and Private Prisons

A public prison is a place where individuals are physically confined and deprived of a number of personal freedoms by the government. This is a legal penalty that is imposed by the government to the law breakers for the protection of the innocent people. On the other hand, a private prison is a place where people are interned physically by the third party contracted by the government. These private prisons enter into an agreement with the government. The state then pays a monthly rate for every prisoner who is confined in the facility  In both public and private prisons, imprisonment cannot be imposed without commission of a crime.

The government can save a lot of money by the use of private prisons. They only keep low-cost intimates. Others suggest that cost savings is brought at security expense. When one decides to use a private prison, the history of its prisoner movement and adequate patrols should be considered. Those with a lax culture, excessive use of false alarms, and inconsistency in screening visitor procedures should never be considered (Harnsberger, 2011).

Many organizations and individuals have called for suspicion of private prisons, as well as their abolition. The religion domination such as the Catholic Bishop and Presbyterian Church are also criticizing the same. On the other hand, the proponents of the private prisons argue that they are effective, efficient and cost-saving. Contemporary to these, a number of several researchers have concluded that these prisons are neither efficient nor cost effective.

Mostly, the cost-savings that is usually promised by the private prisons do not materialize. The reality is that these private prisons are more costly than the public ones. The cost estimated by the privatization advocates may also be misleading. This is because private facilities are against intimates that cost a lot to the house compared to public prisons. Studies have concluded that sending less expensive offenders to private prisons inflated cost savings. Evidence has suggested that lower levels of stuff and private facility training may lead to the rise in incidences of escapes and violence (Richard, 2010).

It is very clear that the public prisons have won public trust. It has therefore been extremely hard to convince the common citizen that private prisons can be effective. Most people doubts whether the private prisons have enough security.

The public prisons are always the best choice. They are not after profit and thus there are no cases of ignoring important issues in the name of profit making. They carefully and strictly confine the law breakers. Before they confine any individuals, some tests are carefully done. This test separates those who have been abusing certain types of drugs from those who do not. This protects those who have not used the drugs from the brutality of the drug abusers due to their side effects.

 The society and the government should be very cautious while deciding on whether to use private or public prisons. Like any other business, profit making is the biggest consideration that is held by the private prisons. They may therefore ignore some cost that is meant to improve security for the sake of profit maximization.

On my side, I would prefer public prisons to private prisons. This is because the state is responsible for the law and would strictly prevent it from being broken.