Prison overcrowding has become a familiar headline. Too many prisoners, not enough places, and governments searching for ways to create space.
One answer has been early release.
But here’s a question: What happens after the prison gate opens?
Recent reporting in The Justice Gap describes probation officers considering industrial action amid concerns about pay and growing workloads.
It’s easy to talk about releasing prisoners as though the job is finished once they’ve walked out of the gate.
It isn’t.
People leaving prison may need somewhere to live, a way to earn a living, support with practical problems and help navigating the conditions of their release.
And somebody has to supervise them.
I’ve experienced both a closed women’s prison, HMP Bronzefield, and an open prison, HMP East Sutton Park. They are very different environments, and that contrast has given me plenty to think about when it comes to preparing people for life outside.
Prison policy often seems to focus on numbers. How many cells are available? How many people can be released? How quickly can the population be reduced?
Those questions matter. But so does what happens next.
If probation services are overwhelmed, early release risks becoming a short-term solution to one problem while creating another.
Opening the prison gate is not the same as preparing someone for freedom.
Source: The Justice Gap, 19 October 2026, Marie-Diane Gemini. www.thejusticegap.com/probation-officers-vote-on-industrial-action-as-thousands-of-prisoners-are-released-early/
Lou Myx is the author of Crime Doesn’t Pay, a memoir of life inside HMP Bronzefield and HMP East Sutton Park. Read more at loumyx.com.
One answer has been early release.
But here’s a question: What happens after the prison gate opens?
Recent reporting in The Justice Gap describes probation officers considering industrial action amid concerns about pay and growing workloads.
It’s easy to talk about releasing prisoners as though the job is finished once they’ve walked out of the gate.
It isn’t.
People leaving prison may need somewhere to live, a way to earn a living, support with practical problems and help navigating the conditions of their release.
And somebody has to supervise them.
I’ve experienced both a closed women’s prison, HMP Bronzefield, and an open prison, HMP East Sutton Park. They are very different environments, and that contrast has given me plenty to think about when it comes to preparing people for life outside.
Prison policy often seems to focus on numbers. How many cells are available? How many people can be released? How quickly can the population be reduced?
Those questions matter. But so does what happens next.
If probation services are overwhelmed, early release risks becoming a short-term solution to one problem while creating another.
Opening the prison gate is not the same as preparing someone for freedom.
Source: The Justice Gap, 19 October 2026, Marie-Diane Gemini. www.thejusticegap.com/probation-officers-vote-on-industrial-action-as-thousands-of-prisoners-are-released-early/
Lou Myx is the author of Crime Doesn’t Pay, a memoir of life inside HMP Bronzefield and HMP East Sutton Park. Read more at loumyx.com.
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