Home Office Good Practice Seminars
Prolific & other priority offenders
Workshops - 1 December
Workshop 3
Joint Management of Offenders: Avon & Somerset experience
(Kay Wozniak, Avon & Somerset Police, Garry Holden and Jim Allum, Probation Service)
The purpose of the Avon and Somerset Prolific Offenders Scheme is to target the most active criminals, seeking to reduce crime in the communities it serves, through rehabilitation, enforcement and surveillance.
The Avon and Somerset Prolific Offenders Scheme was set up in April 2002 under the auspices of the Bristol Crime and Disorder Partnership with the aim of targeting the most prolific offenders in the Bristol area. The first partnership of its kind within the Avon and Somerset Police force area, and possibly anywhere in the country, the Prolific Offender Unit brings the police, prison and probation services together at both a strategic and an operational level. It is this unique combination that has contributed to the strength and the success of the scheme and which has attracted considerable interest both locally and nationally.
Beginning in one police station in Bristol, the scheme swiftly spread to all three force districts in Bristol, and has now been launched force-wide with units being set up in Staple Hill, Bath, Weston-super-Mare, Taunton and Yeovil.
Avon and Somerset Prolific Offenders Scheme (ASPOS) targets those offenders who are causing the most damage to the community and for whom other sentencing options have failed. They concentrate on house burglars and car thieves, almost all of who are driven to steal by the need to support a long-standing drug addiction.
Gary Holden and Jim Allum described the database to assess and target offenders and gave a powerful case study about how the scheme works in practice. A useful summary is available below.
The key success factors for the scheme include:
Enthusiasm and support from Chief Constable - as is often the case with successful projects, a champion is required with the drive and authority to work differently.
Co-location and information sharing - good communication between probation, prison and police services.
Funding - significant funding secured from a number of sources including the Recovered Assets Fund. However, a source of long-term funding and/or the mainstreaming of the scheme needs to be developed. This is likely to be secured via probation officer roles.
Download the Avon and Somerset Prolific Offenders Scheme summary Word document
Download: Joint Management of Offenders: Avon & Somerset experience (PowerPoint presentation) 888Kb
Last update: Wednesday, November 01, 2006