A SCHEME set up to break the criminal cycle has helped slash reoffending rates in Chester by almost 50 per cent.
Prolific reoffenders in the area have been helped to change their ways under the new look Prolific and other Priority Offenders (PPO) scheme which gives them a chance to make a new start.
An offender who chooses to work with the PPO officers to change their behaviour and lifestyle have been helped to battle any drug or alcohol addictions, find a decent place to live and access pathways into education, training or employment.
Set up in last year by Cheshire Police, Cheshire Probation Service and Cheshire West and Chester Council, the programme has helped to reduce the reoffending rates of the 60 of the most prolific burglars, vehicle crime offenders and street robbers in the area.
Those who do not take up the offer of a fresh start will be targeted by police, says a police spokeswoman.
She added: “By choosing not to work with the PPO team, offenders open themselves up to being proactively targeted by the agencies involved in the scheme. This means close supervision and unplanned daily visits by the joint agencies to manage both the offender and their behaviour in the community. Any evidence of a criminal act is dealt with as a priority and they are placed back before the court.”
Inspector Rob Woodward of the Western PPO Unit said offenders hold the key to their destiny.
He added: “We want them to stop offending and will give them every assistance, but if they don’t or won’t, then we will stop it for them.”
Almost a year after the scheme was set up, the Home Office has released figures showing that re-offending in the 60 PPOs in West Cheshire has dropped by 47 per cent, three times the national average.
Organisers hope to enrol more than 100 offenders on to the scheme from September onwards.
Gavin Butler, community safety manager for Cheshire West and Chester said: “We have designed the process for managing offenders on proven national good practice. It is an effective and efficient way to secure fewer victims of crime in Cheshire West and Chester and to help people move away from crime.”