Prolific & Priority Offender Scheme
Reducing crime and disorder. Helping offenders out of a life of crime.
Nationally, it is estimated that 10% of offenders are responsible for 50% of all the crime. Since 2004, Gloucestershire's criminal justice agencies have operated a co-ordinated multi-agency crime reduction strategy targeting the small number of criminals who are responsible for a disproportionate volume of crime in our county.
The Prolific & Priority Offender (PPO) Scheme is a joint initiative between police, probation, prison and drug intervention teams, with the county's six Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnerships.
Highly successful, the Prolific and Priority Offenders Scheme has seen a 66% reduction in the volume of crimes committed by PPOs
The aim is to stop the "revolving door" cycle of offending - drug taking, poverty, homelessness and prison. Identified offenders are fast-tracked through the criminal justice system and the things that trigger their offending are addressed (eg. drug misuse, education, employment).
The PPO programme in actionWhy the PPO programme is unique
What do offenders feel about the PPO scheme?
The PPO programme in action
The first step is to identify who is a PPO according to:
- The nature and volume of crime committed
- The nature and volume of harm they cause
- The detrimental impact they have on their community
Each identified offender is then engaged, monitored and prevented from re-offending. The scheme consists of three strands that aim to:
Catch and convict the offenders who have committed the most criminal offences, or whose offending causes the most harm to their community
Rehabilitate and resettle offenders by working with them to stop their offending. The opportunity for rehabilitation is backed by a swift return to court if they re-offend.
Prevent and deter the most active young offenders from escalating into future young offenders
The PPO journey
STEP 1
The police, local authorities, prison and probation services identify a PPO and monitor them closely. This can involve joint police, probation and Drug Intervention Programme (DIP) home visits.
STEP 2
The PPO is subject to intense police monitoring and probation supervision and is offered interventions to change their offending behaviour. If this is not achieved, tough enforcement action is taken and the PPO faces a swift return to the courts. Drug misusers are also directed into appropriate treatment.
STEP 3
Following any community sentence or release on licence (a release with conditions attached) from prison, the offender manager will closely supervise the PPO, who will continue to receive specifically tailored interventions through a combination of wrap around support services.
Why the PPO programme is unique
An end-to-end offender management approach - The PPO programme features an end-to-end offender management approach to tackling crime and its causes. It has the explicit aim of stopping the offending of PPOs who cause the greatest harm to their local communities.
Joined up working - The programme features more joined-up working and information sharing between the key agencies, enabling the expert management of offenders in custody and in the community. It also offers a systematic approach to identification, based on the National Intelligence Model and Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnerships' priorities for Gloucestershire.
Integration of drug intervention progammes - The close alignment of the Gloucestershire PPO scheme and local Drug Intervetion Programme is another good example of how the scheme delivers significant benefits, not only to the offenders themselves, but to local communities as well.
What do offenders feel about the PPO Scheme?
When asked how the scheme had helped them, PPOs identified:
- The benefits of the interventions (for example, the drug treatment they received meant they did not need to offend to fund their drug use)
- The intensity and structure of the PPO scheme (in the community), which meant that they were occupied, with little time to commit offences
- The regular police monitoring, which acted as a deterrent to committing crime
Case studies
Case Study 1
This PPO had been feeding a drug habit that was costing between £80 - £100 per day. They had been funding this habit by committing burglaries and thefts from cars. In a thirteen-week period they committed 34 burglaries and 67 thefts from motor vehicles.
Following the launch of the Prolific and Priority Offender office in Cheltenham, this individual was identified and informed that they were being designated as a PPO. In less than a week of this notification, and following proactive policing, the individual was arrested in a stolen car. Since the arrest this individual has been held on remand in prison. Using Home Office calculations the Prolific and Priority Offender office estimate that this PPO was costing society £11,648 per week and that the team's intervention has now saved over £105,000.
Whilst in prison, the individual has been working with the relevant Prolific and Priority Offender office and is now receiving drugs intervention treatment to help them become clean and free of drugs.
Case Study 2
This PPO had a £300 per day crack cocaine habit. In a 30 day period he committed 14 thefts from motor vehicles, 2 shoplifting offences and 2 acts of criminal damage. The individual funded their drug habit almost entirely from crime.
The PPO Office approached the individual and signed them up. They were placed into a drugs intervention programme where they received sustained and monitored support. The individual has remained free of drugs for over three months, and committed no crime in this period. Using Home Office calculations, the PPO scheme estimates that the individual was costing the community of Gloucestershire £8,500 per week and that following the unit intervention over £204,000 has been saved.
