New sentencing measures to take effect next month

A series of tougher sentencing measures, new criminal offences and a more balanced judicial review system will come into force when the Criminal Justice and Courts Act 2015 takes effect on 13 April.

The act contains a range of law changes, including increased prison terms for serious crimes such as certain terrorism offences and internet trolling.

It has also changed the law so anyone who kills a police or prison officer in the line of duty faces spending the rest of their life behind bars.

The act will also end the automatic release of those jailed for child rape and serious terrorism offences half-way through their prison sentence.

New offences coming into force include revenge pornography, causing serious injury by driving while disqualified, and remaining unlawfully at large following a recall from licence.

Read the full press release here.

A quick guide to crime statistics

The two main sources of crime data routinely used by government, the media and researchers are the Crime Survey for England and Wales and police recorded crime. Here’s a quick guide…..

The Crime Survey for England and Wales (formerly called the British Crime Survey) is a face to face interview with thousands of people each year, who are asked about their experiences of crime over the previous 12 months. It covers both adults and children living in households, but excludes people living in group residences such as care homes and prisons. It’s an important source of information as it includes crimes not reported to the police, and isn’t affected by changes to police crime recording.

Police recorded crime data is supplied by police forces to the Home Office. It covers a broader set of offences than those recorded by the Crime Survey for England and Wales, from murder to minor criminal damage, theft and public order offences. It also covers victims (for example tourists) and sectors (such as companies), which are excluded from the Crime Survey for England and Wales. Recorded crime figures are also an important indicator of police workload, and provide a good measure of trends in well-reported crimes.

Taken together, these data sources are used to produce a picture of crime across the country, and a report combining them is published by the Office of National Statistics several times each year called ‘Crime in England and Wales’.

New Restorative Justice Service launched for victims of crime in Norfolk and Suffolk

Victims in Norfolk and Suffolk will have more opportunities to take part in restorative justice, with the launch of a new service.

Commissioned by the Police and Crime Commissioners for Norfolk and Suffolk, and delivered by Victim Support, the Restorative Justice Service will use trained volunteers to undertake safe restorative justice (RJ) with victims and offenders, working alongside other partners in the Criminal Justice and RJ fields.

RJ brings together victims of crime and those responsible to find a positive way forward for all concerned. It gives victims the chance to have their say, to get answers to their questions, and begin to recover and move on with their lives. It has also been shown to reduce re-offending rates.

Neil Luckett Victim Support Restorative Justice Service Manager said: “This new and bold initiative will bring benefits to victims of crime in appropriate cases, enabling them to initially cope with the impact of the crime and eventually recover from the effects of it.

“Restorative Justice can give victims of crime a voice in the Criminal Justice process. Whilst the victim will be the focus of our work, there are added benefits to the wider community, offenders and others who cause harm as we know that Restorative Justice does reduce re offending and provides long term solutions to reducing levels of crime.

If anyone has been a victim of crime, or has been harmed as the result of a crime or other incident, and feel they want answers to questions about the crime from the person who committed it, then they can contact the Restorative Justice Service to discuss their case and how we may be able to help them”

To contact the Restorative Justice Service people can e-mail rjnorfolksuffolk@victimsupport.org.uk or call Victim Support on 0845 4565995

Understanding Domestic Abuse in Suffolk

A far-reaching, independent report published by University Campus Suffolk (UCS) published on Tuesday 3 March 2015 takes an unprecedented look at how victims of domestic abuse consider they are supported in the county.

The research, commissioned by the Police and Crime Commissioner, Tim Passmore and led by UCS’s Senior Lecturer Dr Emma Bond, considers verbatim data drawn from individual interviews and focus groups based on the experiences of 69 Suffolk survivors (63 females and 6 males) who volunteered to take part in the study. The university also interviewed 16 police officers and 24 professionals working directly with
people affected by domestic violence and abuse across the county.

Tim Passmore said, “Since being elected as Suffolk’s Police and Crime Commissioner, I have placed great emphasis on the need to keep victims at the heart of our services. This is especially relevant to dealing with domestic abuse; it is an integral part of my Police and
Crime Plan and one of our top priorities. One thing that became clear to me very quickly when engaging with victims across the county is that we need to look for ways to understand and deal with domestic abuse better to ensure we fully support survivors of this terrible crime. I know that all services involved in delivering domestic violence support to victims are committed to dealing with domestic abuse, but it is difficult to deal with an issue unless you really understand the extent of the problem. This really helps us to get beneath the statistics and really understand how it feels for victims when they are feeling scared and isolated.” He added, “I realised that the research by UCS would be a sobering lesson to us all, but it will really help us to understand what we are dealing with here in Suffolk. I believe this research will help us to understand the extent of the problem better. It should help us to formulate an action plan so that we can greatly reduce this terrible crime as a matter of urgency.”

The focus of the project was to examine the perceptions and experiences of a particularly
vulnerable and marginalised group during their journey through the criminal justice process. Dr Emma Bond from University Campus Suffolk said “The report has identified many areas of good practice in relation to the support victims and survivors of domestic violence have received. Many agencies in Suffolk acknowledge the importance of partnership working, inter-professional practice, and that domestic violence must be addressed in ways that recognise that solutions must be as much proactive and preventative as reactive. As the national research published in the Guardian last week highlighted victims offer suffer years of abuse before they get the help they need. While the Suffolk study found a number of examples of best practice that deserve commendation, the participants’ accounts nevertheless point to failure at many levels in the way some survivors and their families are treated by the agencies who should be supporting them. The report recommends that the findings of this report be included as part of an independent countywide strategic review of service delivery, conducted with all relevant stakeholders including survivors and their families.”

Suffolk Police’s Assistant Chief Constable said “The Constabulary welcomes this report, which has given us frank and honest feedback on the services received by vulnerable people most in need of effective support. Tackling domestic abuse is a priority for the Constabulary, as outlined in the Police and Crime Plan, with all domestic abuse calls given an emergency priority response. A recent HMIC inspection into domestic abuse praised the work of the constabulary, highlighting it as an ‘important priority’ for police and singling Suffolk out as one of the forces across the country that showed a high performance when it came to handling domestic abuse reports. We are committed to ensuring that we build on this standard, increasing the confidence of victims in coming forward and speaking to us, whilst ensuring our staff across the county are confident in responding to any call for help. We continually look to improve on our service and will now take the recommendations from this report and use them to identify how we can make positive changes, with our focus firmly on the needs of victims and enhanced working with our partners”.

The research was undertaken across Suffolk between May and December 2014. It was
based on four main objectives:
 To provide a detailed understanding of the perceptions and experiences of
survivors of domestic violence and abuse relating to their journey through the
criminal justice system.
 To identify survivors’ perceptions of current support and service provision
currently available.
 To identify barriers to engaging with current support and services, and consider
how these may be overcome.
 To consider what types and levels of support and services survivors of domestic
violence and abuse would like to be able to access in order to shape an
innovative approach to providing appropriate support.

The executive summary can be read here Executive Summary UCS March15

Read the full report here UnderstandingDomesticAbuseInSuffolk