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Penalty Notices for Disorder: Review of practice across police forces

In July 2005, the Government, with support of Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) initiated a Review of Penalty Notices for Disorder (PND) practice across Police Forces. The objectives of this report are to identify best practice in the use of PNDs and to develop consistency, better management and control of the PND scheme. The report also offers recommendations for PND best practice at both the local and national levels.

Title: Penalty Notices for Disorder: Review of practice across police forces
Author: Charles Kraina & Liam Carroll, Office for Criminal Justice Reform
Number of pages: 54
Date published: March 2006
Availability: Download full report PDF 254Kb

Penalty Notices for Disorder (PNDs) were introduced in the Criminal Justice and Police Act 2001. They provide the police with a quick and effective means of dealing with low level, nuisance behaviour – often alcohol-related – that typically occurs in city centres at night and weekends. The offences included in the scheme are summary offences where the most likely court outcome would be a fine. The scheme enables the police to issue penalty notices on the spot or in a police station. Use of PNDs removes these minor cases from the courts, significantly reducing the paperwork a police officer needs to complete and provides an efficient means for the police to tackle minor offences which may not previously have warranted the resources required for prosecution.

Under the scheme the police may issue a person who has committed a specified penalty offence with a fixed penalty notice. The recipient then has 21 days in which to pay the penalty or request a court hearing. If the penalty is paid all liability for the offence is discharged and there is no criminal record. If a court hearing is requested the process reverts to a standard prosecution. If no action is taken within the 21 day period then a fine of one and a half times the penalty is automatically registered (without the need for a court case) against the penalty notice recipient. The fine will be enforced in the same way as any other fine by the courts.

PNDs were piloted and rolled out nationally during late 2003 and 2004, as a response to both the police and the Government wanting a speedy and effective alternative option for dealing with low-level nuisance offending that does not warrant attendance at court. Home Office Police Operational Guidance was published and made available to police forces in October 2002. Supplementary Operational Guidance for Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs) has also been published, as has Supplementary Operation Guidance for Accredited Persons and guidance on issuing PNDs to juveniles.

The Penalty Notice for Disorder (PND) scheme is based on the long standing Fixed Penalty Notice scheme for road traffic offences. PNDs are issued to individuals and there is no requirement for an admission of guilt nor is a conviction recorded against the subject.

The proper use of PNDs as an effective disposal (with the penalty commensurate with the level of criminality) for low-level offending is key to ensuring that public confidence in the scheme and the criminal justice system is not only maintained but enhanced.

It is clear that since implementation, PNDs are being used differently according to local interpretation of Police Operational Guidance. This has led to a marked inconsistency in practice and procedure across England and Wales not only at force but individual BCU level.

Recommendations

The report makes a series of recommendations to be adopted at both the national at local level. The local level recommendations (likely ot be of more practical use to practitioners) are reproduced below. The full recommendations can be found in the full report.

Context	Recommendation
Maximising sanction detection and Offenders Brought to Justice (OBTJ) opportunities.
Adult offenders.	Whilst maintaining integrity, review local policy and procedure to ensure PNDs are issued in appropriate circumstances and that their use is maximised for both on-street and custody issue in respect of adult offenders.
16/17 year old offenders	Extend local policy and procedure to include 16 and 17 year olds for the full list of offences, including Section 5, theft and criminal damage for on-street and custody issue.
Use of PNDs as an alternative to other disposals.	Provide greater clarity to the ethical and appropriate use of PNDs as an alternative to 'No further action' and 'Detected not prosecuted' outcomes to ensure consistency in the approach to PNDs.
PNC Entry.
Ensure PND entries are made against all recordable and notifiable PND offences.	Ensure PND entries are made against all recordable and notifiable PND offences.
Crime Recording & Reporting.
Crime Recording.	Introduce robust systems, procedures and supervision to ensure that PNDs are issued for the listed offences and that the initial recording of the crime is correct and can be substantiated.
Role of the Dedicated Decision Maker (DDM).	Ensure that processes and procedures are in place to enable contested cases to be referred to the (DDM) and Crime Registrar when a decision has been made not to proceed and to follow these through to outcome to enable training needs and trends to be identified
Performance Management.
Local Framework.	Ensure that robust performance management structures consistent with those described in the Managing Police Performance document are in place to inform staff on policing priorities, specifically to: Disaggregate sanctions detection disposals by type at force and BCU levels. Ensure that performance management structures support force priorities and identify opportunities to widen the scope of the local scheme. PNDs should be included in any BCU/team wider sanction detection targets. Feedback mechanisms – ensuring operational staff receive performance information.
Establishing Policy owning Dept.	Ensure clear ownership of PND policy and procedure within the Criminal Justice portfolio to enable performance management within the right framework.
Local Audits.	Establish through local audits whether and to what extent, local PND procedures facilitate the appropriate and ethical use of PNDs and the accurate recording of offences.
PND Personal Issue.	Make personal issue of PND tickets for both tariffs standard practice. The process should identify the PND ticket numbers and to whom issued.
Quality checks & role of supervisors.	Ensure supervisory staff quality check or dip sample completed PND tickets to support performance management and identify training issues and other trends.
Local Training.
	Given the exponential significance of PNDs as a sanction detection and OBTJ, review current training methodologies in the light of the incremental growth and use of the scheme and plan training accordingly: Ensure relevant and progressive training as the scheme is rolled-out and developed. Put in place team champions that colleagues can approach for further guidance. Record the level of training and to whom given. Ensure access to PND reference documentation.

Getting a copy

Download Penalty Notices for Disorder: Review of practice across police forces PDF 254Kb

Last update: 24 March 2006