Current Initiatives
Specialist Domestic Violence Court
Implementation of Streamlined Process
Prison to Court Video Link Pilot
Prolific and Priority Offenders Strategy
Multi-Agency Public Protection Arrangements (MAPPA)
Anti-Social Behaviour Orders (ASBOs)
CJSSS - Simple Speedy Summary Justice
Specialist Domestic Violence Courts
Following a scoping exercise conducted during 2008, Surrey Criminal Justice Board has recently agreed to set up a Specialist Domestic Violence Courts (SDVCs) within Surrey. SDVCs improve the response of the CJS and its partners to this serious violent crime through ensuring a holistic multi-agency service that puts victims and their safety at the heart of the CJS and holds perpetrators to account. A project manager has recently been appointed and work on an implementation plan will shortly be underway. It is hoped that Surrey will be able to introduce SDVCs towards the end of this financial year.
Implementation of Streamlined Process
From the 8th June 2009, case file preparation for all first trial hearings in Surrey Magistrates’ Courts will be subject to the Streamlined Process (SP). This is a national project which builds upon the success of the CJSSS initiative by eradicating unnecessary file overbuild through the streamlining of contents/documents to ensure case files are more proportionate to the offence. A major benefit of SP will be the reduction in police officer and administrative staff time taken to prepare a prosecution file. This will allow officers to spend more time out on the street
Prison to Court Video Link Pilot
Surrey Criminal Justice Board agreed for Surrey to be a pilot area for the Prison to Court Video Link (PCVL) project. Whilst Surrey have used video links between courts and prisons for some time, it was felt that the level of usage could be increased. The Surrey Criminal Justice Board set up a local implementation team to work towards identifying how use of the links could be increased and set about drawing up a protocol to allow for consistent use of this facility. There are a number of benefits for using PCVL, in particular, it speeds up court hearings, reduces the time and cost of transporting individuals from court to prison, and helps prison governors manage their prison population. Following implementation of this project, Surrey has maintained an increase in its average usage for Nov 08 to Jan 09 as compared to the average usage for Sept 07 to July 08. It is expected that usage will continue to increase throughout 09/10 when more equipment is installed at Surrey's local prison.
Prolific and Priority Offenders Strategy
The aim of the national Prolific and other Priority Offenders (PPO) Strategy is to reduce crime and re-offending by developing a joined up approach to managing a small group of offenders who commit the most crime (or create the maximum disorder). Each criminal justice area identifies the individuals who are responsible for the most crime and disorder, and work together to ensure that all agencies prioritise their resources on these offenders, with the explicit aim of putting and end to their offending. To assist the PPO Strategy, Surrey Criminal Justice Board has introduced a multi-agency Targeted Subjects protocol that targets and monitors all persistent, prolific, and potentially dangerous offenders who have a disproportionate impact on society.
Multi-Agency Public Protection Arrangements (MAPPA)
MAPPA is proving to be successful in protecting the public against offenders who threaten them. The partnership has been strengthened by the launching of a Targeted offenders’ scheme. Targeting relies on sharing information and working together. The priority of the Multi Agency Public Protection Arrangements is to identify offenders who create an exceptional risk to others and concentrate on them.
Anti-Social Behaviour Orders (ASBOs)
An ASBO application can be considered for an individual if they present a risk of causing alarm, harassment or distress to members of the public. In Surrey, the aim is to make better use of ASBOs and a local multi-agency protocol has been agreed and introduced by the Board.
CJSSS - Simple Speedy Summary Justice
CJSSS is an initiative which sets out to increase the speed and effectiveness of the CJS to enable us to provide an improved service to victims, witnesses and defendants.
The overall aim is to provide a service that is focused on reducing crime by improving the service we give. Cases undeer CJSSS take between one to six weeks from charge to sentence as to in the past when a case could take up to 21 weeks (national average).