It is estimated that, nationally, out of a million active offenders, 100,000 offenders have three or more convictions and are responsible for half of all recorded crime. The active offender population is not static. 20,000 individuals leave this pool every year and are replaced by another 20,000.

But thanks to The Reach Project, the County’s Prolific and other Priority Offender (PPO) scheme, criminal justice agencies together with key partner organisations are reducing volume crime and tackling substance misuse across the County.

Three years after the Government launched the Prolific and Other Priority Offender (PPO) Strategy to target the offenders who commit the most crime and cause the most harm to local communities, the scheme which helps persistent offenders turn their lives around is proving a success in Derbyshire.

Since its introduction many offenders have been required to work to a challenging and demanding programme of monitoring and supervision delivered by agencies represented on the Derbyshire Criminal Justice Board and have been helped to leave behind a path of offending and look towards a crime free future.

Some key facts:

• Within Derbyshire, 54%of PPOs leaving the scheme do so because they have stopped offending. This is higher than the national average but is lower than the East Midlands

• No PPOs left due to receiving custodial sentences of over 10 years, compared to 9% nationally

• 46% of Derbyshire PPOs moved to another scheme, nationally this is only 23% and regionally 29%

• Derbyshire has a significantly higher percentage of older PPOs. Chesterfield has the greatest proportions of older PPOs

• Burglary still contributes the greatest percentage of convictions for Derbyshire PPOs

• The most recent offences in South Derbyshire are Shoplifting and Driving offences

• Presently no PPOs are identified as committing Criminal Damage

The Reach Project is a multi-agency led initiative, owned by the Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnership’s (CDRPs) with Derbyshire Criminal Justice Board having responsibility for ensuring compliance with the overall strategy. The project brings together representatives from Derbyshire Constabulary, the Crown Prosecution Service, Her Majesty’s Courts Service, Her Majesty’s Prison Service, Derbyshire Probation Area, the County Youth Offending Service, the Drug and Alcohol Action Team (DAAT) and Drug Intervention Programme (DIP), housing agencies and Connexions.

As part of the strategy, the criminal justice agencies and other partners apply a ‘Premium Service’ when dealing with a PPO, to which there are three complementary strands: Prevent and Deter, Catch and Convict and Rehabilitate and Resettle.

All member agencies have a responsibility towards delivering the ‘Premium Service’ to ensure that PPOs in Derbyshire are identified as quickly as possible, are assigned a dedicated worker at each stage of the criminal justice process, are given priority access to appropriate offending behaviour programmes and are prioritised during court listings.

Chief Inspector Jock Munro, Burglary and PPO Co-ordinator for Derbyshire Constabulary comments:
“This is the first scheme that brings together all the essential elements in dealing with our most problematic offenders who wreak havoc in our communities.

“By the key criminal justice agencies working together with the County CDRPs, alongside other key partner organisations, this initiative provides real opportunities for us to break the continued cycle of re-offending which prolific offenders find themselves locked in to.

“The success we have had so far in focussing our efforts on a small group of offenders is making a real difference and making our communities safer.”

The Home Office has provided online information on Prolific and Other Priority Offenders. To view this information click on the link in "Related Links" below.