Derbyshire Criminal Justice Board (DCJB), who has responsibility to oversee the PPO strategy in Derbyshire, has produced a dramatic piece of film designed to discourage repeat offenders from continuing a life of crime.

Award-winning filmmaker, Sandra Harrison of production company Revival Studios was commissioned by DCJB to produce the DVD, entitled ‘Lighting the way to a brighter future’.

The DVD takes the audience through the journey of three ex-offenders and highlights the support which has helped them to change their offending behaviour, improving their lives and the quality of life in their local communities.

No actors were used in the film - the ex-offenders are real people who were once real criminals, spending time in and out of prison.

When asked to be in the film, Christopher, an ex-offender commented:

“I saw it as another positive step towards helping me to rebuild my life and stay away from the criminal lifestyle I used to lead. I was happy to help as it gave me an opportunity to give something back to all the agencies after all the support I have received.”

All criminal justice agencies and partner organisations including the DIP team were involved in the filming process and were extremely cooperative when the film crew arrived at various locations including St Mary’s Wharf police station, HMP Sudbury and Derby Crown Court.

The film has been designed with a dual purpose in mind. It will be shown to PPOs - those who commit the most crime and cause the most harm to local communities, to help them understand the services such as housing, drug intervention, alcohol treatment and education that are on offer to them to encourage them to reform and motivating those who want to break the cycle of criminal behaviour.

In addition, the DVD will act as a training resource for staff working with offenders and will highlight the effectiveness of partnership working when managing offending behaviour.

For persistent offenders, the DVD is a fresh way of viewing how services can be accessed – and how the various support agencies work in partnership.

‘Lighting the way to a brighter future’ addresses issues that fall within the three strands of the Government Prolific and Priority Offender (PPO) strategy:

• Prevent and deter

• Catch and convict

• Rehabilitate and resettle

Gillian was asked to talk about the CPS’s involvement in providing the premium service outlined in the PPO strategy. She said:

“I took part in the filming of the PPO DVD on 19 February down at St Mary’s Wharf. I was obviously aware of the need to identify and prioritise these cases, and remembered the unit head’s “The Future is Orange!” email! However, until I did the DVD I didn’t really appreciate just how many agencies are involved and the sort of support offered to some offenders.

“We all know how important our presence at the police station is in formulating action plans and securing convictions of the most prolific offenders. I think, though, we sometimes lose sight of the positive outcomes that can happen and forget that, occasionally, drug and alcohol programmes do work.

“I arrived for filming at the station, where a room next to the canteen had been kitted out with lights, cameras and fluffy microphones! I had to wait what seemed like an age whilst final adjustments took place. Andy Vickers from the police went first, panicking slightly when he was told he would need some make up!”

Detective Inspector Andrew Sproson, chair of the Prolific and other Priority Offender County Steering and Implementation Group, sees the value of using the stories of reformed offenders on the film.

He comments: “The DVD is all about the positive stories of three reformed offenders. For us, a real success story is when we take someone off the scheme – they are no longer a prolific and priority offender.”

Laura Gurnett from Derbyshire Criminal Justice Board who commissioned the DVD from Revival comments:

“We briefed Revival to produce a powerful piece of visual and audio communication that would raise the awareness of the Prolific and Priority Offender scheme and also the services that can be accessed via the schemes.

“The messages in the DVD are extremely strong – if persistent offenders are willing to engage with what they are seeing, they will see that there are a number of agencies who will support and assist them to break their cycle of criminal behaviour.”

Sandra Harrison of Revival Studios concludes:

“The whole experience has been fascinating and it was so rewarding to see how the individuals profiled in the film have transformed all aspects of their lives.  If the film impacts on just one offender and helps them reform, the impact on the community will be huge and I’d love to feel we played a part in that!”