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The fear of being banished from an OA-City would be a very powerful deterrent

CRIME & BANISHMENT    

On what grounds do I maintain that OA-Cities will be almost totally crime-free..?

Firstly, all adult OA-Citizens will have to have been approved by an ADMISSION PANEL composed of leading citizens or, most ideally, a rotating jury-style panel.

I say “Ideally” because every citizen would occasionally – perhaps once in 5 years – get the opportunity to vet applicants, and a rotating panel should theoretically negate any accusations that the panel (or certain individuals within it) are prejudiced against certain types of applicant.

The application (which the applicant would have to pay for) and interview process should eliminate most unsuitable applicants at the first hurdle. (The application fee alone might do much of the elimination work..!) OA-city life will be more secure and much less stressful, especially less financial stress with no mortgages, car payments, or many of the other numerous ways of wasting money in order to “keep up with the Jones’, etc.  But, most important of all will be the SENSE OF BELONGING that comes from being part of a like-minded community, especially one whose citizens have pledged to give some of their new-found spare time to Community Assistance Pledge (CAP) work.  I believe CAP will effectively mould OA-citizens into an extended family group..!   

Unless mentally ill or on drugs, very few citizens will be foolish enough to commit some offence which might jeopardise their citizenship status and risk being banished..!

Whilst they are still a novelty – possibly for a few decades – OA-Cities are sure to attract many PAYING VISITORS, – some may get several thousand a day, thus generating a very useful income stream.   Unfortunately some visitors may mis-behave or even harbour malicious intent, perhaps a citizen applicant who was declined and returns to exact revenge.

Since nowhere can ever be totally crime free, OA-Cities will need to have some appropriate punishments.   For citizens, the penalty for minor misdemeanours will be some extra days of CAP work but, in more serious cases, the most powerful deterrent will be the threat of banishment, either temporarily or permanently.  But, where crime is committed by visitors – by far the most likely scenario – the threat of banishment will have no meaning.    OA-Cities will not have prisons so there will need to be some alternative sanction – exactly what form that would take would be a matter for debate.  

The current practice of prisons as places where malefactors can while away long prison sentences in idleness or, worse – excessive body-building, drugs, homosexual rape, and bullying of weaker prisoners.  Not just an atrociously bad idea but enormously costly – each prisoner in the UK costs about £50,000 a year.  It is only fair that prisoners should pay for their keep and repay their debt to society through work.  The type of work and hours worked could be scaled according to the severity of the crime.  The hardest criminals should do the hardest labour so that they tire themselves out and exhaust their aggression.   The risk of prisoners escaping from an outside work gang would be minimal if fitted with ankle bracelets and a tracking device, ideally one which could remotely dis-able a violent individual.  

CAR-FREE, CARE-FREE, CRIME-FREE

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