The Police, Intelligence, and Young Offenders
| Date | 01 September 2007 |
| Author | Ian Waters |
| DOI | 10.1350/ijps.2007.9.3.244 |
| Published date | 01 September 2007 |
| Subject Matter | Article |
The police, intelligence, and young
offenders
Ian Waters
Department of Applied Social Sciences, London Metropolitan University, Old Castle St,
London E1 7NT. Tel: 0207 320 1056; Fax: 0207 320 1034; email: i.waters@londonmet.ac.uk
Received 10 July 2006; revised and accepted 16 October 2006
Keywords: young offenders, juvenile crime, youth justice, youth offending
teams
Ian Waters
is currently a senior lecturer in crim-
inology at London Metropolitan University, and
an active member of the University’s Crime and
Community Safety Research Unit. In addition to
several academic posts at various universities
(including Surrey, Nottingham Trent and Oxford),
Dr Ian Waters has also occupied civilian posi-
tions in Hampshire Constabulary, and Avon and
Somerset Constabulary. Other research interests
include policing and postmodernity, the recruit-
ment of ethnic minorities into the police, and
serial offenders.
A
BSTRACT
The government and the Youth Justice Board of
England and Wales have placed considerable
emphasis on robust community interventions for
young offenders, and the vital role of multi-
agency work in Youth Offending Teams (YOTs).
The police are expected to play an increasingly
important part in the control of persistent young
offenders, and to facilitate a ‘joined-up’ criminal
justice system. This paper discusses the involve-
ment of the police in the Intensive Supervision
and Surveillance Programme (ISSP) which is
targeted at the most serious and persistent young
offenders. It is shown that such involvement
primarily revolves around the concept and practice
of intelligence-led policing, and the sharing of
information between ISSP teams and the police.
The specialised knowledge and functions of police
officers form key elements in the implementation
of the ISSP, and were widely welcomed by other
professionals in ISSP teams and YOTs. Whilst
the research suggested some cynicism, or lack of
knowledge, about the programme amongst local
police forces, police officers seconded to YOTs were
generally supportive of the ISSP.
INTRODUCTION: THE ISSP AND ITS
EVALUATION
This paper considers how the police in
England and Wales have been engaged
collaboratively in the control of young
offenders, with a particular focus on the
Intensive Supervision and Surveillance Pro-
gramme (ISSP). This programme, designed
to reduce the frequency and seriousness of
offending, has been regarded as the flagship
of community-based interventions for
young offenders (aged 10 to 17 years) in
England and Wales: the Youth Justice Board
(YJB) has acclaimed the programme ‘as a
real and workable alternative for short cus-
todial sentences’ (Youth Justice Board,
2000, p. 2), with a unique level of super-
vision and surveillance (Youth Justice
Board, 2000, p. 2). Whilst one key aim in
the use of the ISSP has been the reduction
of custodial sentences for young people, its
impact in this regard has been difficult to
assess (National Audit Office, 2004, p. 30).
The ISSP is aimed at prolific and serious
young offenders and, in 2001, the YJB
International Journal of Police
Science and Management,
Vol. 9 No. 3, 2007, pp. 244–256.
© Vathek Publishing,
1461–3557
Page 244
International Journal of Police Science & Management Volume 9 Number 3
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