Premier League champions on target to tackle crime and reoffending

The Police Service of Northern Ireland is working with justice partners and the Irish Football Association (IFA) in a new initiative with Premier League champions Leicester City to tackle crime and reoffending.

Leicester City’s ‘Police and Community Champions programme’ has been identified as a model of good practice in providing “pathways out of crime”.

Representatives from Reducing Offending in Partnership (ROP) – a Northern Ireland-wide approach to managing priority or prolific offenders – and the IFA been studying the football club’s programme and how it links police and statutory partners to the world of football and provides pathways out of crime for offenders or those at risk of offending.

Through ROP, the PSNI, the Probation Board for Northern Ireland (PBNI), the Northern Ireland Prison Service (NIPS) and the Youth Justice Agency work together to tackle priority offenders who commit crime such as burglaries, robberies or thefts and who impact most upon the community.

PSNI Detective Inspector Mark Dennison explained: `”Since the start of 2016 we have been working with the IFA on developing a bespoke programme for young people under the Prevent and Deter strand of ROP and also for selected adults who have entered the Rehabilitate and Resettlement strand.

“At a workshop in March, a structure was agreed for a 12-week programme. Work is commencing with ROP partners to ensure that this is delivered in the autumn.”

Mary Aughey, director of youth justice services at the Youth Justice Agency, said: “Leicester City’s Police and Community Champions programme was identified as a model of good practice and we are delighted that the Premier League champions have agreed to become a new and dynamic partner.

“The IFA and Leicester City will work together through a formal

arrangement to help those participating in the programme to move away from crime and anti-social behaviour.”

Paul Doran of the PBNI said the recently published Committee for Justice report, Justice in the 21st Century: Innovative Approaches for the Criminal Justice System in Northern Ireland, outlined the merit in exploring the introduction of problem-solving justice in Northern Ireland.

“It suggested this was an innovative and effective approach to the criminal justice system, particularly against a backdrop of increased budgetary pressures in the public sector,” he added.

“This partnership, which considers the needs of the individual, is the type of preventative activity that collectively we need to be focusing on to deliver meaningful outcomes.”

Director of Football Development at the IFA, Michael Boyd, said: “Our new youth strategy, ‘Let Them Play’ has paved the way for exciting new developments and we have set ourselves ambitious targets to build new partnerships within our Football Social Responsibility team to deliver programmes and share good practice.

“This link-up working with ROP and young people at risk is something we are excited about as we seek to deliver Football for All.”

The IFA will initially be delivering a six-week programme in Woodlands Juvenile Justice Centre, with the content of the 12-week programme being finalised over the summer.

Leicester City’s Police and Community Champions programme is a joint-funded initiative with Leicestershire Police and Leicestershire-based food manufacturer Samworth Brothers.

Leicestershire Police Inspector Steffan Shellard says the Community Champions programme has enabled them to “engage youngsters in ways we could only previously had hoped to do”.

“Through a combination of both life and ball skills, we have built a solid foundation of mutual trust and respect with our participants, helping to steer them along the right path in life,” he added.

“Football can transcend different generations, build strong alliances and unite the unlikeliest of people.

“Football is the common ground that can bring us together. Never a truer example is that of the partnership working alliance between Leicester City’s Community Trust and Leicestershire Police.