The thought that you may soon be sharing public transport or rubbing elbows in a supermarket with a notorious murderer or a rapist is going to throw a chill through many hearts, but it has been part of the release system when prison terms end for many years.
What is new is that such prisoners will not be under the care of professional prison guards. They will be given a high degree of freedom in the care of a civilian "sponsor ", and so far what criteria applies to choosing people to serve in that capacity has not been made clear.
The very idea of violent criminals walking free creates a "fear factor "in many minds, but it stands to reason that when a prison sentence ends the prisoner walks out the gate a free person. For that reason, most are given "early release " because that allows special terms to be imposed. In exchange for earlier release the offender must accept regulation by a parole officer. This allows felons to be "eased back into society " under careful supervision.
The sticking point is going to be those prisoners who committed a crime that shocked the public and drew immense public attention throughout the trial and the inevitable appeals that followed. Many think of that person as a "monster " - and because of the publicity they are easily recognised on a public street. There is the danger that the public response may make it impossible for such a person to be integrated into society. The crime will be rehashed in the media and sometimes this leads to a vigilante posse of citizens forming.
The whole array of specialists who regulate the release of prisoners insist that it is essential that the release mechanism is graded to reduce the shock factor. The prison system totally removed the option of free choice in prisoners lives. They eat - sleep - live to the prison timetable and they can quickly become "institutionalized "" - incapable of making decisions on their own.
There is also the ever changing society in which they will emerge. For those serving long sentences, the Smartphone and it's Apps will be an entirely new experience. The world has turned many times since they were locked away and regaining liberty can be a bewildering experience. Just imagine what life was like - before Facebook ?
It is inevitable that this learning experience will end badly in some cases. There will be obvious restrictions when prisoners are in the care of their sponsor, but the lure of alcohol or drugs will still be strong in some people and for those convicted of sex crimes, mingling with women once again may renew temptations. At least deviant behaviour can result in day release privileges being withdrawn.
The real dilemma faced by both the courts and the prison authorities is what to do with those who have served their full sentence and are obviously uncorrected. They can not be held in prison indefinitely because they have fulfilled the penalty imposed and the state has no option other than to let them walk out the gate.
They will probably be quickly arrested for fresh criminality, but that is cold comfort to the victims of that crime. We live by the rule of law, and the law insists that when a prison term is served that person is released. Perhaps we have less to worry about those on supervised day release - and more to fear from the criminals who are counting down the days till the end of their sentence !
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