Promising practice in public protection

In many jurisdictions, public protection has joined rehabilitation, reparation, humane punishment and crime prevention as a key outcome expected from correctional work.  This usually requires - at the least - improved information sharing between agencies and - at best - inter-agency shared case management.  A significant change is often needed in the relationship between correctional work and the police.

DOMICE was interested in those jurisdictions where arrangements had been put into place to help case managers to manage the most dangerous or prolific offenders through formal information sharing, or structured inter-agency case management.

ENGLAND and WALES   - the MAPPA (Multi-Agency Public Protection Arranagements) system makes information sharing and inter-agency working a statutory duty, placed upon the key agencies.  Similar arrangements have been developed in SCOTLAND and NORTHERN IRELAND.

There are clear expectations about information sharing between correctional agencies and the police in GERMANY (some parts), ESTONIA and the CZECH REPUBLIC although none of these (yet) have a working together requirement to match those in the UK.

The implications of a new public protection emphasis are not always comfortable to those working in correctional services.  Sharing information with the police and other authorities is viewed, by some, as contravening the principles of human rights and confidentiality, and inappropriate to agencies whose services are rooted in rehabilitation.