Of Criminals and Their Transporation

Driving through South City the other day. Stopping at a red light I look next to me and see a St. Louis Metropolitan Police van. This was no ordinary van. Through the windows a steel cage was visible, seemingly custom fit to match the entire space of the back portion of the vehicle. Then it hit me--People ride in the back of that van, locked inside that cage, through busy traffic, right down the middle of countless city streets. These are human beings who have, to some degree, forfeited their humanity through their crimes, many of which dehumanize their victims. Though my understanding of our justice system is extremely limited, I think it says something profound when we put a fellow human being behind bars. In effect, we are stating, "You have violated an image-bearer, another creature representative of the Creator God. This is ultimately an offense against God. As a result, measures must be taken to see that you answer for your actions." However incarceration must never be the end of the story. Should we not consider everything from the cage, to the courtroom, to the prison cell as means to the end goal of reconciliation with and restoration to humanity, the very community in which they committed the crime? This side of the Fall I would like to think of every van with a cage I see as the first step in restoring a criminal to his own humanity and humanity at large.