Formed 2014 | Headquarters London, United Kingdom | |
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Legal personality Governmental: Government agency General nature Law enforcement
Civilian agency | ||
The London Community Rehabilitation Company (London CRC) was launched on 1 June 2014 (at the same time as the National Probation Service). Formerly part of the London Probation Trust, is a law enforcement agency that works alongside the National Probation Service (NPS).
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It is the largest of the 21 Community Rehabilitation Companies across England and Wales, employing nearly 1,200 staff across London. The London CRC's role is to manage the majority of offenders under probation supervision alongside the National Probation Service, which manages offenders who have been assessed as presenting high risk of harm to others. The London CRC works with other justice agencies and public bodies to protect the public and reduce re-offending.
The London CRC work with offenders from their first court appearance to completion of their sentence. Staff implement court sentences through credible and effective community punishments including programmes designed to change offending behaviour.
Work with courts
Before deciding on a sentence, a judge or magistrate may ask the London CRC to prepare a pre-sentence report to describe the circumstances of the crime and assess the risk the offender poses to the public. This report will propose a sentence but it is the court that makes the final decision. The London CRC prepares 34,000 pre-sentence reports for the courts every year.
no pre- sentence reports are prepared by the CRC,it is the work of the NPS, exclusively.
Community sentencing
The London CRC manages community sentences imposed by the court for adult offenders: those aged 18 and above. At the heart of the community sentence is compulsory unpaid work, the aim of which offenders pay back to the community.
Other elements of the community sentence include prohibited activities, where an offender is banned from undertaking certain activities, and curfews supported by electronic monitoring. London CRC also runs programmes to tackle the root causes of offending.
These programmes are designed to teach offenders to think before they act, improve their literacy and numeracy, and address specific problems with behaviour including drug abuse. The London CRC provides supervision and offenders who break the terms of their order are taken back to court.
Work with prisons
The London CRC works with National Probation Service staff who are based in prisons to assist with sentence planning and ensure that the release of medium-risk offenders who are serving a custodial sentence are governed by strict conditions. These conditions can stipulate where the offender should live, whom they may or may not see, and compulsory attendance on programmes such as anger management. If an offender breaks these conditions they can be sent back to prison.
Victims
The London CRC also work with National Probation Service staff to work with victims of serious crime. They keep the victim informed about the progress of the sentence and conditions of release. The London CRC staff also work with offenders with a view to helping them to understand the impact of their crime on victims.