Chief Inspector Paul Betts is West Midlands Police’s lead officer for offender management.
In this blog he discusses the force’s evolving response to dealing with vulnerable offenders − people who are committing crimes driven by desperation or addiction, not greed.
When I was a kid the split between goodies and baddies was pretty clear. Cops on one side and robbers on the other; you could always spot a baddie because they wore stripy jumpers, masks and carried bags with ‘SWAG’ written on them!
If only it were that simple. Many people who commit crime are complex characters − they are not simply “baddies" − and that’s why we need subtler approaches to how we view, label and manage offenders to prevent them reoffending or reduce the harm and risk they pose.
A recent arrest in Solihull illustrates this brilliantly and shows why West Midlands Police now looks more at the underlying causes of crime − and how we stop that person coming back to our attention − rather than simply dishing out a caution or court date.
The man was arrested on suspicion of burglary after being spotted stealing food from a bin behind Tesco in Warwick Road. The 23-year-old fully admitted the offence − but during an interview with one of our officers it became clear he was stealing food due to need, not greed. He wasn’t stealing food to sell down the local pub; he was hungry and desperate.
He was autistic and had been living in a van outside his mother’s home after deciding to move out of the house. He needed help…and we had the opportunity to offer it. The officer referred the man to Fry Housing Trust, a charity and housing association that provides supported accommodation for homeless people at risk of offending.
He now has a room at a project in Selly Oak, plus a support worker, and is hoping to enrol on a course to boost his employment opportunities.
It would have been easier to simply caution him and send him on his way − but that wouldn’t have addressed the root cause of his offending. He’s embraced the support offered to him and, fingers crossed, he’s on the right track to turning his life around.
Does prison work for vulnerable offenders?
Evaluation of a West Midlands Police operation in Birmingham − aimed at diverting offenders out of the criminal justice system into rehabilitative pathways − showed that 56% of people arrested had also been victims of crime, including 28% as victims of violent crime.
This correlation is true across almost all academic studies and the position is worse for vulnerable groups, especially women and children. Over half of women in prison in the UK report suffering domestic abuse; one in three has suffered sexual abuse.
Goodie? Baddie? Victim? Offender? All of the above? Depends how we choose to label and look at it.
Do they need to go to prison? Prison works doesn’t it; it relieves communities of crime?
In the short term, maybe. And some people definitely need to go to prison for reasons of punishment, deterrence or public protection − but 82 per cent of women, for example, entering prison have committed a non-violent offence.
In 2014, 41 per cent of women jailed at court had been convicted of theft or handling stolen goods offences. More women were sent to prison to serve a sentence for theft and handling than for violence, robbery, sexual offences, burglary, fraud, drugs, and motoring offences combined.
And about two thirds of women on short sentences (less than 12 months) reoffend within a year.
That’s why West Midlands Police is increasingly looking at alternatives to address offender vulnerability and investigating alternative choices about how we process them.
One successful partnership has seen West Midlands Police & Crime Commissioner’s office donate funding to Anawim Women’s Centre and Sandwell Women’s Aid.
The groups support vulnerable women, including domestic abuse survivors and offenders, with incredible results: Anawim’s reoffending rate among clients is around five per cent, compared to the overall 45% reoffending rate from sending women to prison.
We’re not social workers but…
This blog has focused on women but when you think about vulnerabilities caused from mental health, armed forces veterans and homelessness, for example, you can begin to see the scope for expanding this ‘prevention and intervention’ policy.
I’m not suggesting for a minute that West Midlands Police officers become social workers or a charity.
But looking at what causes vulnerable people to commit offences and helping them access the right support is proven to be highly effective in reducing the chance of them committing more crime. Preventing crime is our core business.
To address demand, reduce crime, improve the lives of them and their victims, we need to offer them the friendship they often don’t realise they need.
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