A lost generation? The future of police and crime commissioners is uncertain, but we must learn from their promising work.
More than two years into their role, the first generation of police and crime commissioners remain a controversial addition to public service landscape. Whether it is the slightly clunky name and its acronym (PCC), a lack of understanding about their role, or the November polling date, the election in 2012 generated little engagement among the public, and the media have given PCCs short shrift ever since.
Such is the hostility that there may not be a second generation of PCCs at all. With Labour pledged to scrap them if they are in power after the Election, and the Liberal Democrats also favouring an alternative model, the PCC experiment could be coming to an abrupt end.
However, whatever the long-term future of PCCs, it is important to look behind the headlines at what different areas are actually doing.
Through the First Generation project, Revolving Doors Agency and the Transition to Adulthood Alliance (T2A) have identified numerous examples of promising practice among PCCs. Our series of ‘PCC spotlights’[i]will highlight these, with the first focusing on young people – particularly those making the transition to adulthood, aged around 16-24.
This age group are responsible for a disproportionate amount of crime, making up just 10% of the population but around a third of those sentenced to prison and a third of the probation caseload. The offending of many of these young people is linked to multiple and complex needs and problems such as poor mental health, substance misuse, insecure housing, and unstable or non-existent family ties.
However, at this crucial stage in their lives (19 is the peak age of offending) the whole system changes around them. Too often, they fall through gaps between youth and adult support services, while sky high reoffending rates show the ineffectiveness of current criminal justice interventions; three quarters of young adults sent to prison are reconvicted within two years.
Recognising the demand this places on their police force, their communities, and the wider criminal justice system, a number of PCCs have decided to act.
In Leicestershire and Rutland, for example, the Young Adults Project (YAP! for short) was started by PCC Sir Clive Loader, and is bringing partners together to improve responses for young adults across the whole justice pathway. In South Wales, PCC Alun Michael is working to extend the principles of a successful youth offending team approach to young adults. Meanwhile, Gloucestershire PCC Martin Surl has made “young people becoming adults” a top priority, and is funding a range of preventative community outreach services.
In many ways, these police and crime commissioners are well placed to drive change in their area. Through their strategic role, they can show important leadership on key issues that are impacting on their force, but fall between the gaps of other services and systems. That clumsy job title is also important here – their broader ’and crime‘ responsibility means they cut across youth and adult systems, with a remit to bring partners together to solve these difficult issues.
Of course, it is still early days for many of these initiatives. Nevertheless, it is clear that there is much to be learnt from the experience of this first generation of police and crime commissioners, whether this informs the work of future PCCs or the development of new structures after the Election in May.
This blog appeared originally in Children and Young People Now, and has been reposted here with minor alterations. See: http://www.cypnow.co.uk/cyp/news/1149761/daily-roundup-february-youth-offending-policing-apprenticeships
Our first ‘PCC Spotlight’ briefing focusing on young adults is available here: http://www.revolving-doors.org.uk/documents/pcc-spotlight-young-adults/
