Offender Management Community Scoping of London Gang ...

The exception was HMP Belmarsh which faces different issues as a result of
the high proportion of Muslim prisoners held and the risk of conversion and
radicalisation of non-Muslim prisoners.
4.1.6 Practitioner Concerns
‣ The need for agencies to share intelligence and information about individual
offenders and known associations with serious group offending.
‣ The need for agencies to share intelligence about known alliances and
rivalries between groups of offenders.
‣ The need for an Action Plan for working with 16/17 yr olds in partnership
with Police (Unpaid Work)
‣ The need for sentencers to understand and recognise the risk of harm to
offenders in certain situations and take this into account when sentencing.
‣ Good information can create a “safe” situation for offenders and increase the
likelihood of success/compliance.
‣ Need to “quality assure” local support projects before making referrals
‣ Need for accurate risk assessments (risk of labelling/stereotyping)
‣ Managing the risk – knowing what is true and what is fantasy
‣ The need for flexibility in breach procedures
‣ The need for flexibility in reporting venues – taking account of confidentiality
issues
‣ The need for specialist local services
‣ The need for “safe” accommodation for offenders trying to exit a group
‣ The need for regular updates on current groups, alliances and rivalries,
identifying characteristics etc.
‣ The issue of hostel referrals was raised as a potential for high risk situations
if all the information/intelligence was not taken into account, including
location of hostel, local serious offending groups, other residents‟
allegiances etc.
‣ In terms of Unpaid Work, there are serious concerns about protecting
offenders, staff and members of the public in exposed projects.
‣ Offender Managers and other practitioners in local area offices feel that staff
and offenders are vulnerable, mainly due to the location of the offices, poor
communication and the unreliability of offenders to keep strictly to
appointment times.
4.2 Thematic issues to consider
4.2.1 Communication
a. Internal
London Probation staff at all levels felt that communication was poor, both
laterally between colleagues and vertically through the management structures
of the service. All staff members were concerned about the issue of working
with serious group offenders, but many were unaware that the issue was being
addressed by London Probation management. However, the meetings with
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