The purpose of the Avon and Somerset Prolific Offenders Scheme is to target the most active criminals, seeking to reduce crime in the communities across Avon and Somerset.
The Avon and Somerset Prolific Offenders Scheme (ASPOS) was set up in April 2002 under the auspices of the Bristol Crime and Disorder Partnership with the aim of targeting the most prolific offenders in the Bristol area. The first partnership of its kind within Avon and Somerset, and possibly anywhere in the country, the Prolific Offender Unit brings the police, prison and probation services together at both a strategic and an operational level. It is this unique combination that has contributed to the strength and the success of the scheme and which has attracted considerable interest both locally and nationally.
ASPOS targets those offenders who are causing the most damage to the community and for whom other sentencing options have failed. They concentrate on house burglars and car thieves, almost all of whom are driven to steal by the need to support a long-standing drug addiction.
The scheme is based on the proposition that in a given area, up to 80 per cent of crime is attributable to 20 per cent of the offenders living there. It therefore follows that if criminal justice organisations target those offenders they can have a disproportionate impact on the number of crimes and therefore the number of victims in that community.
ASPOS concentrates on those offenders who are causing the most harm to the community and for whom other sentencing options have failed. Police intelligence and probation records are used to place individuals within a targeting matrix to ensure that only the most prolific offenders are adopted by the scheme.
Criteria for inclusion in the scheme are clear. Candidates, men or women, will qualify if their offending has a serious impact on the community in which they live. This will usually include domestic burglary and/or car theft. They will satisfy a number of criteria in terms of the nature and frequency of their previous offences and previous sentences, which ensure that we target the most prolific and troublesome offenders in this category. Experience suggests that most will have a Class A drug habit – (eg heroin, cocaine, amphetamine).
How does the scheme work?
Offenders are encouraged to clear up any outstanding crimes, whether detected or not, before starting on the programme. This leads to more crimes being brought to justice. Contact with ASPOS can begin before sentence, and extend beyond it. This will ensure that the provision of treatment is not constrained by short sentences. Each offender has an individual programme of intervention which includes surveillance, drug treatment, cognitive skills training, employment training and education, and challenges to offending.
How is the scheme funded?
Support for ASPOS comes primarily from the Recovered Assets Fund, the Bristol Regeneration Partnership, Communities against Drugs, Avon and Somerset Probation Trust, Avon and Somerset Constabulary, the Police Standards Unit and The National Probation Directorate.
What added value does ASPOS provide?
Due to its unique funding arrangements, ASPOS works with offenders beyond the restrictions of statutory requirements. This may include pre-sentence work and voluntary after-care.
How is the scheme funded?
Support for ASPOS comes primarily from the Recovered Assets Fund, the Bristol Regeneration Partnership, Communities against Drugs, Avon and Somerset Probation Trust, Avon and Somerset Constabulary, the Police Standards Unit and The National Probation Directorate.
What added value does ASPOS provide?
Due to its unique funding arrangements, ASPOS works with offenders beyond the restrictions of statutory requirements. This may include pre-sentence work and voluntary after-care.
Case Study
Pete is 29 years old and he started using solvents and taking cannabis at the age of 13. Significantly, because of his early brush with crime, his father disowned him and what relationship they had had been particularly volatile.
While in a young offenders' institute at the age of 18 he was introduced to heroin and in his early 20s progressed to using crack cocaine and heroin.
In recent years he has been renowned as a prolific house burglar, committing crime to fund his £500-a-day habit.
His most recent conviction had been for a 31-month sentence for 24 burglaries. Following his release he had been recalled to prison for re-offending within two and a half weeks.
While in prison police intelligence staff highlighted him to the prolific offenders scheme at Southmead and he was enlisted onto the scheme last year.
He is currently in a drug treatment centre in Devon undergoing a three month primary drug treatment programme.
He has just signed up for a second stage treatment which will last for a further six months.
Following his arrival at the centre he wrote this letter to two probation officers who have been dealing with his case.
"I would just like to take this time to give you a big thank you. You were both so right. I have only been here a week and it is exactly what I need. I have not looked at my inner self like this before. It is very frightening but very real. It's like a major wake-up call and I am certainly waking up.
"I feel very happy today because I was allowed to talk to my father and just the tone of his voice said it all. He is so supportive and happy for me and I owe that thanks to you for persuading them to give me this opportunity. I can’t thank you enough. Keep up the excellent work."
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