Government crime and justice adviser visits Rochdale

Louise Casey with Rochdale Community Crime Fighters, Richard Rudd and Ghulam Shazad talking with an offender who is cleaning up Taylor Street, Rochdale as part of his Community Payback punishment.

The Government’s Crime and Justice Adviser Louise Casey visited Rochdale today to see justice in action.

Ms Casey visited a Community Payback project on Taylor Street to see offenders carrying out work in branded high visibility orange jackets to benefit the local area.

Ms Casey said: "Community Payback like this in Rochdale makes sure that criminals pay for what they’ve done and that the law abiding majority benefit. It's tough physical work, carried out by offenders, ensuring that justice is not only done, but is seen to be done.

“We want to build public confidence in the criminal justice system and that’s about trust – showing communities what they can expect from the police, what happens if you’re a victim and what happens if you break the rules. If people feel more confident that crime and anti-social behaviour are being tackled effectively, then they are more likely to pick up the phone, make a complaint, report a crime, stand up in court to give evidence and support other people to do the same.”

Recently the public have been encouraged to nominate and “have their say” on projects they want to see made over by offenders in their area.

The recent Whitworth Road clean-up was identified locally as a popular project with local residents.

Malcolm Humphries, Community Payback Manager in Rochdale, said: "Tough Community Payback projects such as this demonstrate to the public how offenders are paying back for their crimes in the community as well as improving and making the local surroundings safer for everyone. It is important that local residents can see the work being done and know that offenders are being punished for their crimes.

Nationally 8.4 million hours of Community Payback is carried out by offenders each year for free. If paid at the national minimum wage, this work would be valued at £48m and might not otherwise be done.

Ms Casey also met local Community Crime Fighters - members of the public who are already active in their community and who have volunteered to forge stronger links between the police, courts, local authority, probation and the communities they serve.

Councillor Ted Flynn, cabinet member for Community Safety at Rochdale Council said: “We recognise that there are many community activists already doing fantastic work but we want to engage more people from the community in our fight against crime. It is our pleasure to welcome Louise to Rochdale Borough and I hope she will be impressed by how we are committed to introducing her recommendations and improving the quality of life for many of our residents.

“I’m confident that together we can build stronger, confident and happy communities and limit the impact crime has within the borough.”

The Government pledged to have 3,600 Community Crime Fighters trained by 2009 to ensure they understand how to get the best services for victims and witnesses, what the police pledge means for the public and what rights they can expect from local services.