Making communities safer
The London Criminal Justice Partnership (CJP) is working together with partners and agencies to ensure that London’s criminal justice service (CJS) is playing a full and appropriate role in continuing to reduce crime, fewer people are victims of crime, especially the most serious crime and the public are protected from the most harmful offenders.
Serious and violent offending not only impacts on those it affects directly but also on the confidence of the community in the CJS. By improving the criminal justice response to tackling these offences we aim to reduce crime and increase the safety and security of victims, their families and the community.
Together with London's criminal justice agencies, the London CJP is working on initiatives to bring down re-offending levels and make the UK’s capital city a safer place for its residents and visitors.
What we are doing:
- Reducing re-offending through the Diamond Initiative
- Improving the criminal justice system's response to youth crime
The Diamond Initiative
A two year pilot project called the Diamond Initiative is a multi-agency approach designed to break the cycle of re-offending. Six boroughs – Newham, Lewisham, Lambeth, Hackney, Croydon and Southwark – are piloting this innovative and ambitious initiative.
The project brings together a wide range of services including the police, probation service, prison service and local authorities to tackle re-offending by helping offenders to resettle into their communities and start a new life.
The Diamond teams offer support and guidance to anyone in who is sentenced to less than 12 months in prison, sentenced to ‘Community Payback’ or referred to the team by an offender case manager.
To find out what a day in a life of a Diamond Probation Officers involves, click here.
Offenders are offered extra support and guidance on:
- accommodation – assistance to access suitable housing
- drugs and alcohol – help to get local support for drug or alcohol problems
- financial and debt advice
- education, training and employment – advice and help with writing a CV, finding a job or a training course
- support to re-establish links with family
- someone to talk to about the help needed and the options available to them.
For more information read the briefing note on the Diamond Initiative.
Our work with young people
Evidence from the British Crime Survey shows that high profile serious violent crime involving young people is undermining public confidence in the youth justice system. Close links with local authorities, schools and a range of other agencies is vital to improving the criminal justice service’s response to crimes involving young people.
An important part of the London CJP work aims to ensure that whenever a young person has contact with the criminal justice system, the outcome is positive. Through our youth strategy we aim to keep the public safe, prevent offending and help young people realise there can be a positive future ahead.
This year, the London CJP will be testing a range of activities to deliver this. This includes working with local authority partners to better identify young people at risk of offending or victimisation and intervening, speeding up the justice process and making it more responsive and understandable to young defendants and victims. We also want to promote the positive contributions young people make to the criminal justice service.
Read more about our work with young people or about the youth strategy via the links on the right.