A relatively small number of
people cause a disproportionate amount of crime, disorder and
increase the fear of crime. As a result the Government has
introduced a scheme to target those who pose the greatest threat to
the safety and confidence of their local communities. The
Prolific and Priority Offenders (PPO) strategy allows local
partners to concentrate their joint efforts on those people
identified locally as causing most harm to their communities.
The scheme has been given to the Community Safety Partnerships
(CSPs) to oversee, with the chair of the CSP Responsible Authority
Group (RAG) holding the lead for the activity within their
particular areas. In practice this has been accepted to mean
that RAG chairs will hold a corporate view of activities, with
updates given by the relevant Officers Working Group (OWG) members
at RAG meetings.
Each strand clearly has a different focus and as a result
responsibility has been given to individual agencies to co-ordinate
and control a particular area of the strategy:
- Prevent and Deter - Youth Offending Service
- Catch and Convict - Police
- Rehabilitation and Resettle - Probation and Prison
Service
Partners hold monthly case conferencing with good attendance
across the PPO scheme areas, which are managed at Police Basic
Command Unit level. Attendants include local District Community
Safety personnel, the Anti-Social Behaviour Coordinators, the
Partnership Manager and representatives from Youth Offending
Service, Crown Prosecution Service, Drug Intervention Programme,
Probation, Suffolk Community Safety, and staff from within the Area
Intelligence Unit. It is recognised through this process that
considerable intelligence and meaningful action plans are raised
and debated in respect of Prolific and Priority Offenders
(PPOs).
Prevent and Deter
The aim is to stop (overwhelmingly young people) engaging in
offending behaviour and graduating into prolific
offenders. Overseen by the CSP, the Youth Offending Service
(YOS) are implementing nationally recognised strategies to reduce
the number of Prolific and Priority Offenders of the future.
Across Suffolk current young offenders are
being identified early in order to prevent them from
graduating into further involvement in more severe and frequent
criminal activity. Each is assessed using the 'ASSET' assessment
profile and 20 individuals from each locality area in Suffolk (60
overall) had been identified by Autumn 2005.
Tackling potential offenders early
Individuals who are not yet involved with the Criminal Justice
System but have been identified, perhaps through schools as showing
early signs of disruptive behaviour or have had siblings who have
gone down the same route, are identified. At regular meetings
partner agencies such as the Police and Connexions discuss each
individual. Potential future offenders are then encouraged to get
involved in training, education or employment and to put their
spare time to more constructive activities.
Allister Hart, Head of Youth Offending Service for Suffolk County
Council said "This is a real opportunity to engage with youngsters
at an early age to show them an alternative to a life of
crime".
Future plans
Research in West Suffolk by Crime Concern, an independent
organisation that looks to reduce crime and create safer
communities, has shown that Youth Inclusion Support Panels (YISPs)
and Junior Youth Inclusion Projects (YIPs) would be very effective
in dealing with the issues prevalent in the county. However,
this is dependent on additional funding from the Youth Justice
Board.
Catch and Convict
The Catch and Convict strand is aimed at those offenders who are
already identified as prolific offenders and to target them and
bring them before the courts. Rachael Metson, Community Safety
and Partnership Manager for the Southern area at Suffolk
Constabulary said, "We currently have 55 PPOs in Ipswich and
Babergh targeted under the Catch and Convict and Rehabilitate and
Resettle strands of the strategy and this figure has fluctuated
only slightly since the launch of the scheme".
Future thoughts
It is also recognised that following the monthly case
conferences, it is then a matter for each individual agency to
ensure that those actions debated are carried out by nominated
individuals within their own organisation separately from other
agencies' activity. In order to develop a more joined up approach,
a proposal is currently being discussed to develop a pilot Prolific
and Priority Offender Team. This would aim to provide a fully
integrated multi-agency service to PPOs in Ipswich providing a
coherent package of interventions and effective rehabilitation in
order to reduce crime, protect the public and increase public
confidence in the criminal justice system. The team could
undertake intensive supervision of approximately 40 offenders,
especially in the 3-6 month period after their release from
imprisonment.
Its objectives might include:
- To provide intensive supervision for PPOs who are both
statutory and non-statutory offenders.
- To ensure effective fast-track enforcement processes are in
place.
- To ensure comprehensive care plans are completed with reference
to drug interventions.
- To develop drug testing procedures for both statutory and
non-statutory offenders.
- To provide appropriate assessment with a package of
interventions designed to meet individual, personal and social
needs in line with the Regional Resettlement Strategy.
However, this team remains subject to further discussion and
consideration of resources and funding.
Rehabilitation and Resettle
In the Rehabilitation and Resettle phase the aim is to support
those who wish to address their offending behaviour and require
practical help in doing so. Activities include the
following:
- Offender Managers discuss with offenders the ramifications of
being a PPO and offer alternative options, pathways to leading a
non-offending life.
- PPOs are offered a variety of interventions such as accredited
programmes, individual supervision, basic skills input and
accommodation assistance.
- Enforcement of licences and community orders is applied
stringently in line with Probation Service National
Standards.
The PPO strategy is in its early stages and will hopefully make
a real difference to the reality of PPOs leaving criminal activity
behind them.