LANCASHIRE COMMUNITIES PROTECTED FROM SEXUAL & VIOLENT CRIME
26 Oct 2009
The people of Lancashire are being protected from high risk offenders by teamwork from the police, probation and prison services according to figures announced today (Monday, October 26th 2009).
In the last year (12 months ending March 31st 2009), 258 high risk offenders convicted of violent or sexual crime have been subject to monitoring through multi-agency public protection arrangements (MAPPA).
Of the 258 cases, extra attention was focused on 30 identified as having the highest potential risk of harm. These were subject to intense scrutiny and controls to minimise any risk to the communities they live in.
The figures in the MAPPA annual report also show that 1054 registered sex offenders were living in the county as of 31st March this year.
Multi-agency public protection arrangements involve police, probation and prison services working closely together with other agencies, such as social services and housing, to share information about high risk sexual or violent offenders. They implement tough controls such as curfews and electronic monitoring, as well as assisting with employment and accommodation for offenders settling into communities. Behaviour is stringently monitored and if there is any concern, the offender is returned to prison or court.
Area Director Ian Phillips, Head of Public Protection for Lancashire Probation Trust said: “The three major criminal justice agencies in Lancashire are working as hard as they can together to protect the public from sexual and violent offenders. Making sure the people of Lancashire are safe is the ultimate aim of all the agencies involved; these results show that the arrangements put in place to monitor and manage offenders in the community are working.
“The subject of sex offenders is a very emotive one and it’s understandable that people are concerned about them living in the community. However, the vast majority of offences are committed by someone known to the victim and everyone can help to make our communities safer by reporting any concerns they have at the earliest opportunity.”
“Realistically, we can never entirely eliminate risk for any offender but the results show that our tough controls and joint working are effective in the vast majority of cases.”
Supt Graham Coulston-Herrmann, Head of Public Protection at Lancashire Constabulary said: “The multi-agency public protection arrangements are improving year on year strengthening the partnership working to protect our communities from harm. The conviction of Craig Bennett during the last year highlighted the fact that despite everybody working together we cannot eliminate risk. What we can do is continually look at what we do and improve our working practice.
In the last year we have invested additional resources to look at offenders who sexually exploit young people and further strengthened the teams that manage the sexual and violent offenders ”
The Lancashire MAPPA Annual report is published today and can be downloaded from the Lancashire Probation website at www.lancashireprobation.co.uk or the Lancashire Police website at www.lancashire.police.uk and the Safer Communities website www.saferlancashire.co.uk. It is available in hard copy in a variety of formats by request to either service.
