LOCAL CRIME COMMUNITY SENTENCE: LCCS

LCCS – Local Crime Community Sentence – is a successful community engagement programme building public confidence in sentencing and raising awareness of the effectiveness of community penalties.
Since the project was piloted in 2001 and formally launched in 2003 presentations to community groups throughout the country, involving over 16,000 members of the public have been given.
Its success rests in the development and delivery of structured interactive presentations jointly by committed stakeholders, using illustrative media reports to dispel myths and prejudices. LCCS is a powerful model – recognised in the award of an annual grant from the Ministry of Justice since 2007 – which can be used to enhance community confidence in local agencies and the way they tackle local crime issues.
LCCS is a robust programme delivered locally which challenges perceptions and changes attitudes by providing information and improving understanding to a wide range of audiences. LCCS is not about ‘preaching to the converted’.
It has been achieved by developing an interactive presentational style which develops close engagement and participation with community audiences.
Easy to use case-study materials which look behind the headlines of media reports of local crime are used to underpin joint presentations by magistrates and probation. The media reports are deliberately eye-catching and often economical with the truth. Step by step more details are revealed about the offence and offender and a discussion of ‘before and after’ attitudes towards sentencing encouraged.
The case-study material used in the presentations has been developed nationally but messages can be tailored locally. There are six case studies to choose and select the most relevant material for different audiences.
Through the presentations, audiences understand more about sentences serviced in the community, as well as realising that what they usually read about a case is a sensational headline which does not always reflect the facts of the case.
The 'How to Do It' Handbook taps nearly 10 years of experience of LCCS to show what the successful blueprint entails. It is hoped that other organisations can benefit and effectively adapt, develop or incorporate this approach into their own community engagement programmes.
To obtain a hard copy of the LCCS Handbook A Blueprint for Practical Community Engagement: How to Do It and separate Executive Summary, please contact:
Yasmin Jankowski-Doyle
Email: yjankowski-doyle@probationassociation.co.ukTel: 020 7340 0970
Or visit the LCCS website and download a copy.
http://www.lccs.org.uk/