Further Reading
Emanuel's Story
When he joined us over five years ago, Emanuel* was our first day-release trainee. Climbing the ranks, Emanuel worke...
Two Tap Social Co-Founders Named to Prison Advisory Boards
Employment Advisory Boards (EABs) are a fantastic new initiative fully backed by the Ministry of Justice. This schem...
Gareth's Story
The big value that I found with Tap was to be around normal people. I didn’t fit into the prison culture as I didn’t set out to be a criminal. I found them to be very supportive and trusting – something at the time I was not used to.
Jay's Story
Jay joined Tap Social on day release whilst still serving his sentence. Jay stayed with Tap for over three years before moving to London to set up his own business. He remains a valued ambassador for Tap Social, speaking regularly at events and sitting on our Advisory Board.
Gabriel's Story
Tap Social Movement employed Gabriel for a year in a back-office role, before placing him with one of our partner employers, a specialist recruiter to the construction and infrastructure sector.
Call To Action – Key Aims to Combat Racial Inequality in the Criminal Justice System
By way of conclusion to the last 4 blog posts on the topic of racial inequality in the Criminal Justice System we’d like to suggest some ways we can all help improve the situation.
Racial Inequality in Prisons
Tap Social works with people in and recently released from prison to create training and employment opportunities, since having a job is proven to dramatically reduce rates of reoffending (by up to 67%)[1]. The state of the prisons in England and Wales is therefore an issue of great importance to us.
Racial Inequality in the Courts
It is often said that justice should be blind, by which it is meant that decisions should be made without prejudice based on physical characteristics such as apparent age, sex or membership of a particular race or ethnic group. This should be the very bare minimum expectation of a civilised justice system, though in many cases there may be compelling reasons to go beyond the mere expectation of an absence of prejudice, and demand that the courts positively take into account the different experiences of certain communities in tailoring the appropriate criminal justice response, in order to truly do justice to difference.
Racial Inequality in Policing
The work of Tap Social tends to focus on the ‘back end’ of the criminal justice system, i.e. we work with people who have been through the system, have been convicted and sentenced for an offence (perhaps more than once) and often have already served the majority of a prison sentence.
Black Lives Matter
We at Tap Social want to make a statement in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement. We strongly support those who have raised their voices and taken to the streets across the world in protest against racial inequality, as tragically and powerfully symbolised by the senseless killing of George Floyd by white police officers in Minneapolis, USA on the 25th May 2020.