Criminal justice and community safety
We look at services delivered by police authorities and probation boards and where councils and other local public services work together on Community Safety issues. We also work with other regulators who cover the criminal justice system (CJS) when assessing the effectiveness of local partnerships.
Crime and the fear of crime are invariably at the top, or close to the top, of public concerns about the performance of public services and are key drivers of contentment with the areas in which people live. But there is evidence of a growing lack of confidence in the ability of the police and criminal justice services to prevent crime, apprehend offenders and deal with them promptly and fairly through the court system. The importance of all public services working together to develop safer communities and an effective CJS has therefore never been greater and this is reflected in the highest ever levels of public spending in these areas.
The strategies being developed by the best local authorities, Local Strategic Partnerships, community safety partnerships and others, are set by understanding the needs of local people who often require a range of support from a variety of local services. The challenge is to pull together the key strands of these crime reduction and community safety activities in order to realise the potential for improvement that partnership approaches can provide.
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