Plan to crack down on young criminals (From Worcester News)

Plan to crack down on young criminals

12:26pm Monday 26th March 2001

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Lewisham youth who are part of a national criminal hard-core who commit a quarter of all juvenile crimes are being targeted in a new Intensive Supervision and Surveillance Programme (ISSP).

From July the programme, run by local youth offending teams, will see the youths tagged, monitored over the telephone and tracked by police or probation officers.

The programme, which is tailored to the individual offender, will include support in the home, literacy and numeracy training, and work with crime victims.

Councillor Les Eytle, deputy for community safety, said: “Lewisham Youth Offending Team welcomes the news of these new resources. We eagerly anticipate working on the intensive Supervision and Surveillance Programme.”

“The ISSP fits well with our Lewisham community safety agenda, through the close monitoring of repeat offenders.”

The programme follows a Home Office report which found three per cent of young offenders repeat their crimes, and recommended their offending habits are tackled through a £45m national scheme of re-education, paid for by the Youth Justice Board.

Youth Justice Board chairman Lord Warner said: “We are investing £45m into this programme to target this group who cause such havoc.”

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