Cheshire has a comprehensive set of ways to ensure the
public are protected from dangerous and serial sex
offenders. It is called Multi-Agency Public
Protection Arrangements, or MAPPA, which began in 2001.
Phil Thompson, Assistant Chief Constable and Co-Chair of the
MAPPA
Strategic Management Board said “We aim to do everything that can
reasonably be done to protect the communities of Cheshire, Halton,
and Warrington from known, dangerous offenders.”
Multi-Agency Public Protection Arrangements (MAPPA)
The multi-agency public protection arrangements (MAPPA) grew out
of the closer working relationship which developed between the
police and the probation service. These arrangements were first put
on a statutory footing in 2000 and the Criminal Justice Act 2003
strengthened those provisions and required the police, prisons and
probation service to join together and act as The Responsible
Authority for making arrangements to ensure that the public were
protected from dangerous and serial sex offenders.
Cheshire Constabulary, Cheshire Probation Area, the North West
Prison Service are the responsible authorities who ensure that
MAPPA is
effectively managed and implemented.
Other agencies are under a duty to co-operate, including the
Children’s Services, Adult Social Services, Health Trust and
Authorities, Youth Offending Teams, local housing authorities,
Jobcentre Plus and electronic monitoring providers.
Together, these agencies work jointly on a daily basis to make
local communities safer by assessing and managing the most
dangerous offenders. This is challenging and demanding work,
involving dedication by the staff involved to ensure the protection
of the public from the risk posed by these offenders.
MAPPA
Offenders
There are, principally, three categories of offender which fall
under MAPPA
scrutiny. These are:
- Registered sex offenders
- Violent offenders and those sexual offenders who are not
required to register
- Any other offender who, because of the offences committed by
them (wherever they have been committed) are considered to pose a
serious threat of harm to the public
Levels of MAPPA Offending
Level 1
MAPPA Activity at Level 1 involves a single agency, most
commonly the Probation Service, managing an offender without he
active or significant involvement of the other agencies
Level 2
Referral to this level is made where the active involvement of
more than one agency is required. Some offenders posing the highest
risks can be managed through referral at Level 2 where the
management plans are not complex and do not require the commitment
of resources at a senior level.
Level 3
Activity at this level is known as the Multi-Agency Public
Protection Panel (MAPPP) and manages the 'critical few'. These are
the offenders who pose the highest risk of causing serious harm or
whose management is so problematic that multi-agency co-operation
at a senior level is required.