Prison: a grim record of overcrowding

It is the director of the Seine-Saint-Denis remand centre in Villepinte, Île-de-France who has sounded the alarm, stating in a letter addressed to the presidents of the regional courts and the public prosecutors of Bobigny and Paris that she was physically unable to accommodate any more prisoners. This single prison currently holds 1,132 people for 582 places, representing an occupancy rate of 201 per cent. This staggering rate is, unfortunately, representative of the situation across the whole of France, as the average occupancy rate stands at 118 per cent, whilst remand centres have an occupancy rate of 143 per cent. This marks a new record for March 2017, surpassing the previous record set in July 2017 and bringing the total number of prisoners to 69,430. This situation shows no sign of improving, as La Santé prison in Paris remains closed for renovation work and, according to experts, it takes an average of five years to build a new prison. This situation will therefore be difficult for prisoners, but above all for prison officers who will be forced to cope with these conditions. Prison overcrowding is proving to be a major issue in the run-up to the forthcoming presidential elections.