| Title: | Reducing Crime and the Fear of Crime: Building Public Confidence through Community Engagement |
| Date: | Wednesday 24th June 2009 |
| Time: | 10:00am – 4:00pm (followed by networking reception) |
| Venue: | One Whitehall Place, Westminster, London |
“The public are our strongest weapon in tackling crime and the Policing Pledge is a clear deal on what you can expect from the police. I passionately believe that building confidence by giving you more local crime information, listening to your concerns and making your priorities our priorities we will drive up the quality of policing for you and your communities. ”
— Rt Hon Jacqui Smith MP, Home Secretary, December 2008
“We will encourage a more rounded view of tackling crime, from prevention through to rehabilitation, working in partnership across Government and particularly with the new Ministry of Justice which is leading our drive to tackle reoffending. A clearer division of roles and responsibilities for all crime fighting partners, individuals, communities, and central government, is vital.”
— Cutting Crime: A New Partnership 2008-2011, Home Office
With the latest official police statistics indicating a fall in overall levels of crime, a stabilisation of prison numbers, and the likelihood of becoming a victim of crime at its lowest ever level, the Government’s pledge to build safer communities is showing signs of progress. Nevertheless, amid fears of the negative impact of the recession, the Government has acknowledged that there is still much work to do and new challenges to face, emphasising the importance of a more rounded approach to tackling crime, from prevention to rehabilitation, underpinned by the new policing pledge.
The concept of safer communities and neighbourhoods is strongly linked to the public’s perception of crime and confidence in the policing and criminal justice system. Acknowledging the current inverse relationship between perception and reality and the negative impact it has on communities, the Government has prioritised a single national target of raising public confidence and reducing the fear of crime, through greater community engagement by local community safety and crime reduction agencies to tackle crime more effectively in each neighbourhood.
Key to effective early intervention is identifying and targeting children at risk of offending at the earliest opportunity – this can only be achieved through a co-ordinated approach between social services, education authorities, police and the youth justice system. The ability to read the warning signals earlier will increase the chances of positive outcomes and decrease the risk of young people entering the criminal justice system. Despite progress in dealing with those who do enter the system, much work needs to be done to prevent individuals of all ages from re-offending and effectively becoming trapped and ‘written off’ by society. The Government has highlighted the need to invest in community rehabilitation programmes where support and appropriate routes back into society are available through education, housing, training and employment.
This special one-day conference, hosted by the Centre for Parliamentary Studies, provides a timely opportunity to examine the twin targets of reducing crime and increasing public confidence through effective partnership working across all sectors involved in early intervention and re-offending, in order to provide improved, coordinated and consistent services. Delegates will debate, share best practice and network with colleagues from across the community safety, social services and education sector, discussing innovative solutions to reducing the fear of crime and strengthening partnership working within the community.
| 09:00 | Registration & Morning Refreshments |
| 10:15 |
Chair’s Welcome & Introduction Rob Owen, Chief Executive, St. Giles Trust (Confirmed) |
| 10:30 |
Breaking the Cycle of Crime through Earlier Intervention
Jackie Worrall, Director of Policy and Public Affairs, NACRO (Confirmed) Julie Skipp, Head of National xL Programme, Prince's Trust (Confirmed) |
| 11:15 | Morning Refreshments |
| 11:30 | Open Floor Discussion & Debate |
| 12:30 | Networking Lunch |
| 13:20 |
Reducing Crime and Re-Offending through Targeted Community Support
Jonathon Toy, Head of Community Safety, Southwark Council (Confirmed) |
| 14:20 | Afternoon Refreshments |
| 14:35 |
Building Public Confidence and Reducing the Fear of Crime
Mark Norris, Senior Policy Consultant, Safer Communities Board, Local Government Association (Confirmed) Keiran Read, Policy Manager, Neighborhood Crime and Justice Unit, Home Office (Confirmed) |
| 15:55 | Chair's Summary and Final Remarks |
| 16:00 | Networking Reception |
| 17:00 | Close |
How to Book