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BDAAT Information
About the PPO Scheme
It is estimated that out of a million active offenders, 100,000 offenders have 3 or more convictions and are responsible for half of all crime. The active offender population is not static, 20,000 individuals leave this pool every year and are replaced by another 20,000 offenders. The most active 5,000 of this group are estimated to be responsible for one in ten offences.
The Prolific and Priority Offender (PPO) strategy was announced by the Prime Minister in 2004 to provide end-to-end management of this group of offenders. The aim of the PPO strategy is to reduce the number of individuals who become prolific offenders every year and to increase the number of prolific offenders who abandon their offending lifestyles. This would be done by
- Reducing the harm prolific offenders cause to themselves and others;
- Preventing young people from becoming prolific offenders;
- Ensuring that prolific offenders are offered opportunities to break the cycle of crime or face a swift return to the courts.
The Strategy is therefore in three interlocking strands:
Prevent and Deter - The primary aim of Prevent and Deter is to work intensively with those young offenders locally identified as being on the ‘cusp’ of becoming PPOs. The individuals within this Prevent and Deter Target Group will be identified in response to an escalation in their offending and/or the harm that they are causing to their communities which – through not yet a level which would make it appropriate for them to be targeted under Catch and Convict – has led local partners to identify them for management throughout the multi-agency PPO approach.
The supporting aim is early identification of those children and young people most at risk of becoming involved in criminality so that they can be provided with multi-agency support to positively influence their lives and divert them from an offending lifestyle.
Catch and Convict – A managed multi agency approach to tackle the offending behaviour of those individuals locally identified as committing most crime and causing most harm to their communities.
Rehabilitate and Resettle – Multi agency work providing support interventions to address the criminogenic needs of identified PPOs. It is important to recognise that there is a dynamic relationship between the Rehabilitate and Resettle and Catch and Convict strands with appropriate activities being conducted across both strands in parallel. The strands are not mutually exclusive and activity is directed by the behaviour and needs of the identified offender – PPOs are offered the opportunity for rehabilitation or face a swift return to the courts.
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