Police Commissioner awards £30k to tackle female re-offending

POLICE and Crime Commissioner, Darryl Preston, has awarded £30k to Peterborough-based rehabilitative service, Outside Links.

The money will fund a pilot programme, Brighter Tomorrow, to work with female offenders aged 18 and over from Peterborough to address the root causes of what makes them offend.

Women enrolled on the programme will be able to access treatment for drug and alcohol abuse, anger management and domestic abuse interventions, as well as education and employability support.

Female offenders can have complex needs which are often the product of a life of abuse and trauma.  Brighter Tomorrow aims to reduce further offending by diverting women from criminality and helping them to find ways to make better informed decisions, whilst tackling the physical and emotional drivers of crime. The costs and impacts of female re-offending can be wide-reaching in terms of their victims, their families, and themselves.

“Tackling re-offending is a key priority in my Police and Crime Plan,” said Darryl.

“Our goal is to prevent crime from happening in the first place and to do that we need to address some of the causes of crime. This pilot will work with women who have been arrested for a low level or first-time offence and help them turn their life around.”

The Brighter Tomorrow pilot sees the Outside Links service, run by HMP Peterborough, working closely with Cambridgeshire Constabulary and other partner agencies.

Mandy Fairbrother, Through The Gate Manager, Outside Links – Justice Services said:

“Preventing women coming into the justice system by engaging with this pilot programme will enable them to deal with their situations in a positive way whilst receiving continued support. A participant who recently joined said she would be grateful to continue receiving the support she had from Outside Links.”

Andrew Bartlett, Inspector, Cambridgeshire Constabulary added:

“This joint project developed by Darryl’s office and the Constabulary responds positively to a whole range of support for women who find themselves about to enter the criminal justice system.

“It supports the Constabulary’s preventative approach under ‘One More Step’ and I passionately believe that this project delivers a real opportunity to improve the future life chances of these women whilst ensuring that real justice is done for the victims concerned. Diversion where appropriate is a proven method for improving outcomes for all concerned and results in real long term positive change.”