Bermuda should begin to see a dramatic difference in crime rates in a year's time, with offenders receiving alternative programmes instead of prison sentences, Labour and Home Affairs Minister Terry Lister said yesterday.

Speaking to The Royal Gazette during the second day of Government's Alternatives To Incarceration (ATI) training conference, he said he had no doubt that the Island would begin to reap the benefit of the programmes in a matter of months.

He said giving people an opportunity to clean up themselves and their lives, as well as the chance to have their criminal record wiped clean, would get people out of the cycle of crime and on the right side of the law.

The Minister said at present, men were going to prison for a matter of months and being released to simply continue their involvement in crime, and too often drugs.

He said: "I believe we will see a difference within the next 12 months. The impact of ATI will be that the prison population will fall because of the drug treatment court, where people can be put on drug programmes instead of being given sentences, and for people convicted of very minor non-drug crimes there will be alternative programmes, such as community service.

"I believe we will see a significant reduction of crime in that time, too. We will see a reduction in the repeat performance of the existing criminals because people who have a history will have that history addressed.

"It's really all about breaking the cycle of people going in, out, in, out, in and out of prison."

He said once the ATI system was up and running properly, more attention will be placed on inmates at the prisons to ensure they were trained with new skills. He said when they were released, they would be automatically attached to a job and would have a support network around them.

Mr. Lister said with 12 additional probation officers, there was now a more effective safety net and monitoring scheme in place, too.

The ATI conference wrapped up yesterday after two days of talks, presentations and training on how Bermuda proposes to implement the ATI system using a network of agencies to create programmes individually designed for each client.

Drug addicts who appear in court for minor criminal offences, or drug-related offences, may be given the opportunity to attend a programme, rather than have a custodial sentence imposed.

However, if they fail the programme, they could be sent back to court to be sentenced. On the other hand, if they succeed and stay clean of drugs for two years, they could 'graduate' and have their previous records wiped totally clean, with the exception of some serious offences.

Health and Family Services Minister Nelson Bascome told the 300-strong audience at the ATI conference, including members of the legal, crime and health professions, that the ATI system would only succeed with the help and support of all agencies and the community.

He said: "Through the ATI we will be able to decrease the numbers of our young men who find themselves, over and over again, before our criminal justice system.

"We will do this by ensuring that programmes are provided, both inside and outside the prison walls, to address the root causes of their criminal behaviour. In doing so, we will reduce the number of people who are unable to participate in all of the benefits that this country has to offer."

He said the goal will be to make sure that drug-taking offenders not only get clean, but also acquire the skills to get work, live independently, build in confidence and contribute to society.

As for the cynics, who fear crime will increase as more potential convicts will be out on the streets to commit offences, Mr. Lister said: "The cynics are entitled to feel that, and I would invite them to adopt a wait-and-see attitude. There is very little long-term benefit from having a man going in and out of prison."

Cris Wineinger, chief executive officer of the National Drug Commission (NDC), said she believed ATI would help to close an existing gap, where people needed treatment in the community but failed to seek it.

But she said all of the drug agencies, including NDC would have to make a shift to make ATI work.

"We are moving from being a programme-centred network to being a client-focussed network.

"What we mean by that is that more treatment is not necessarily better treatment. The better treatment is the scenario where we match the client to the type of treatment that he most needs."

She said she believed the programmes themselves did not make for good programmes. She said the programmes would only be good if the people behind them were good, and if there was a continuum to ensure people were not lost along the way.

Mrs. Wineinger also promised that all of the agencies would assess themselves and review their results to ensure they were giving the best possible service to Bermuda.

She said: "We have to be accountable to the people in Bermuda and our clients deserve nothing less."