7:00pm Sunday 9th March 2008
By Paula Roberts
THEY'VE saved society £55.5million in four years. By targeting Bournemouth's most chaotic and prolific offenders, police estimate they have prevented thousands of burglaries, robberies and car crimes being committed and made the huge saving in acquisitive crime.
The pioneering Pier Project identifies criminals addicted to class A drugs and offers them a place on the project.
If the offender agrees, they are fast tracked into drug treatment and offered access to doctors and supported housing.
But all this help comes with one major condition - that they get clean and stop committing crime.
Acquisitive crime costs society dear. The savings made by the Pier Project have been calculated based on assessment of clients, their admitted drug usage and the types of crime they committed to fund their addiction. For example, if an addict needs £10 to buy some heroin, they will cost society £100 taking into account the real value of the items stolen, the police costs, hospital costs to victims, insurance costs et cetera.
Since the project started in November 2003, 64 prolific offenders have been put through the programme.
There are 30 clients on the project at the moment and all are at different stages. Some are still in prison serving their sentences, while others are in the community having completed treatment and got themselves homes and jobs.
The project is staffed by two fulltime police officers, Mark Hawkins and Carmel Ryan, as well as analyst Kelly Gibbons. It is led by DI Neil Claughton.
Mark said: "If someone is a prolific offender we will look at them and consider if they are suitable for the programme. If they are we will take them on. If they are not complying or continuing with their chaotic lifestyle and committing crime, we will make sure they get targeted."
There are three arms of the Pier Project - rehabilitate and resettle; catch and convict if they fail to comply; and prevent and deter, which focuses on working with younger people before their offending escalates.
The project works with a long list of agencies and partners including the Crime Reduction Initiative's Drug Intervention Programme, a doctor and drugs counsellor, Sharpe pre-treatment and day treatment, the Providence Project, Streetscene, Bournemouth Churches Housing Association, YMCA, PAS Ltd, DSS, Jobcentre Plus, Lansdowne College, Badsuf, the Probation Survive, DAT, Bournemouth Council and the police.
Last year the project was highlighted as an example of best practice by Home Office minister Tony McNutly for the way it deals with prolific and priority offenders.
And it has also had an impact on the crime figures.
Comparing the number of offences committed in Bournemouth between January 2000 and December 2003, before the project started, and January 2004 to December 2007, dwelling burglary has fallen by 36 per cent, commercial burglary by 25 per cent, robbery by 33 per cent and car crime by 44 per cent.
Mark said: "There are many other factors that can be attributed to this. The Pier Project is part of the whole division's strategy towards reducing drug-related crime. It fits in with the whole aim of Operation Dismantle."
DI Claughton said: "I genuinely believe if we can identify the right people who are committing the crimes that affect us most to fund their addition to class A drugs and we are able to offer appropriate levels of treatment and support, then we will have significant impact on reducing crime.
"If we are able to offer those people the right levels of support then we must have a significant impact on reducing their criminality. Because every hour these people are being supported means they are not committing crime. And when you look at the savings that the Pier Project has made in the few years it has been running I think you will agree that projects of this nature really do work."
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