Staffordshire Police

Staffordshire Police was one of four forces chosen to pilot a new approach to proportionate crime recording and using professional judgment to resolve lower level crimes and incidents. The work formed part of Sir Ronnie Flanagan’s wider ‘Review of Policing’ which was published in February 2008.

The ultimate aim of the initiative in Staffordshire has been to free-up time for officers and staff to deliver a better, needs-based service to victims and other members of the public who turn to the force for help and assistance.

Critical to the success of the project has been work to encourage officers to use their professional judgment to resolve crimes and incidents more proportionately through community resolutions. These alternatives to arrest and sanctioned detections are intended to put the needs of victims first and include advice, formal warnings, apologies, reparation and compensation.

Between August 2008 and March 2009 around 4,100 incidents have been resolved using professional judgment in Staffordshire with the vast majority of victims happy with the actions taken by officers.

Here are just some of the examples so far:

Criminal Damage

• A group of youths were throwing stones near community centre and one hit a window. A Police Community Support Officer (PCSO) spoke to several suspects, eventually the offender admitted causing damage and the matter was resolved by means of apology to the centre manager. Matter dealt with by PCSO from start to finish and was resolved over a couple of days.
• Young boys damaged a Sure Start community centre by ripping the guttering off. The centre manager agreed to a community resolution and asked that the boys apologise to her in person and pick up litter and weeds outside the centre. She then took them round the centre, explained how it helped people and how their actions could have flooded and closed it.
• A 10-year-old damaged a trampoline but denied the offence. The complainant did not wish to prosecute. The attending officer spoke to both parties; the victim only wished the 10-year-old to apologise. The officer spoke to the child with parents present and the child apologised. The victim and parents thought that the matter was resolved appropriately and thanked the officer for their approach.
• A self-employed tradesman found the rear windscreen of his van smashed. The suspect was identified and admitted the damage. The victim asked for an apology and £60 compensation. The suspect’s family stated that they were unable to pay, so the suspect offered reparative work instead. The victim accepted this but no work was done. The officer persevered with this and re-contacted the suspect outlining consequences of not meeting the victim’s wishes. At a meeting the victim outlined the impact on him - loss of day’s business and cost of window. The suspect apologised and £60 was paid, he admitted throwing stones because he was bored. The victim offered him part-time work at weekends to combat boredom.

Theft (shops and stalls)

• Two juveniles were seen on Closed Circuit Television (CCTV) shoplifting at a local store. The attending officer spoke to the shop owner who did not want to take further action, however did want the juveniles to be taken home. The officer took both children home and advised them in the presence of their parents. Both parents and victim were pleased with the outcome, which resulted in the children apologising to the shop owner for their actions.
• A theft occurred from shop whereby goods to the value of £1.29 were stolen. The offender was served with a banning order and repaid the shop owner the £1.29. The shop owner was happy with police action and as a result did not want any further action taken by police. Previously the shop owner had not reported minor thefts as he did not want police involved.
• An elderly lady was caught on CCTV shoplifting from a local store. The attending officer spoke to the shop manager who insisted that she was arrested. The officer established that the theft was low value and recovered the property. The elderly lady had no previous convictions and apologised for her action. The officer decided to deal with the matter proportionately and gave the lady a verbal warning. The officer explained his decision to the shop manager who was satisfied with this.

Theft (in a dwelling)

• A mother reported that her 12-year-old son had stolen money from her purse. She wanted to report this as a crime but did not want to provide a statement or support an arrest. She just wanted some help in ‘parenting’. Resolution agreed for a verbal warning and she ‘grounded’ him for a week.

Theft (deception)

• Two boys aged 11 and 12 years fraudulently collected money door-to-door stating that they were doing so on behalf of a local charity. A resident became suspicious and contacted the police. On reviewing all of the facts, the investigating officer, with the support of the boy’s parents, took the decision to get them to return the money to each of the households they had collected from and apologise personally for their actions. All of the residents affected were happy with the outcome and this course of action had a big impact on the two boys involved.

Section 5 Public Order Act

• Offender used threatening behaviour toward the injured party after a verbal dispute and kicked out toward his car (no contact made). Injured party requested that officers issue advice to the offender. This was done and the offender has also apologised for his actions.
• Offender was involved in a ‘road rage’ type incident, during which he has driven aggressively and shouted abuse at the injured party. The injured party did not want to go to court and asked that officers advise the offender regarding his behaviour. This was done and the offender has also agreed to attend the Driver Improvement Scheme at his own expense.