Crown Prosecution Service in the East of England rated ‘good’

Chief Crown Prosecutor for CPS East of England, and member of Norfolk & Suffolk Criminal Justice Board, Jenny Hopkins, has welcomed a report from the independent HM CPS Inspectorate (HMCPSI) which has rated the area as “good” across the four elements examined.

Ms Hopkins said “I welcome this report which recognises the hard work and dedication of the staff and their commitment to delivering and providing a quality service to victims and witnesses.

“The Inspectors considered our work in the four areas of high quality casework, continuously improving, the success of our people, and public confidence and they rated us as “good” across all four, which is a real achievement.”

Read more here

Have your say on policing in Suffolk

If you live in Suffolk, the police and Police and Crime Commissioner would like to hear your views on crime, anti-social behaviour and local policing services.

The Crime and Community Survey takes around 10 minutes to complete and having your say gives you the chance to be involved in police plans for the future.

Complete the survey here.

More offenders are being successfully prosecuted for sexual crimes

The CPS published their tenth annual Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) report yesterday, outlining the huge increases in convictions for rape and other sexual offences that have been in the decade since the first VAWG report was published in 2007-08.

The report details the number of successful and unsuccessful prosecutions for VAWG crimes, which includes rape, domestic abuse and other sexual offences. These crimes now account for almost 20% of the CPS workload, with more than 80% of those crimes being domestic abuse related.

Data for Suffolk and Norfolk reveals during 2016/17, there were 1,153 VAWG prosecutions in Suffolk, which resulted in 934 convictions (81%). In Norfolk there were 1,628 prosecutions, resulting in 1,309 convictions (80%). This performance exceeds the overall national conviction rate of 75%.

Read the press article and access the report here.

Community SOS launches in Norfolk

A new project is being launched by Norfolk Constabulary’s seven Engagement Officers in a bid to build stronger links with local communities.

Called ‘Community SOS’, they will as a group give up a day, when not on duty, to assist with a local project in their district.

The officers have been in post for a year, with their roles supporting existing community relationships by growing new local activities and providing enhanced visibility in every district.

The closing date for people to send their ‘Community SOS’ request in is Tuesday 31 October 2017. The Engagement Officers will then choose one project to help with in each district and will contact the coordinator directly to arrange dates and times.

Find out more