First community referrals transformed through new Immediate Justice website
The first locations reported by members of the public through Nottinghamshire’s new Immediate Justice website have now been transformed, with offenders carrying out visible clean-up work to restore areas affected by antisocial behaviour.
As part of Antisocial Behaviour Awareness Week, the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner for Nottinghamshire is highlighting how community referrals are already helping direct Immediate Justice teams to locations where they can make a real difference.
Among the first successful referrals are clean-up operations in Nottingham city centre and Sneinton, where Immediate Justice participants have removed graffiti, cleared litter and carried out environmental improvements to help restore public spaces for local residents, businesses and visitors.
Nottinghamshire Police and Crime Commissioner Gary Godden said: “Antisocial Behaviour Awareness Week is an important opportunity to highlight the positive work taking place across Nottinghamshire to address the issues that matter most to our communities.
“I’m really pleased to see members of the public already making good use of the Immediate Justice website to tell us about areas affected by graffiti, litter and environmental damage.
“Immediate Justice is all about delivering visible justice. Rather than simply passing through the criminal justice system, offenders are carrying out meaningful reparation work that directly benefits the communities impacted by antisocial behaviour.
“Every referral helps us identify where this work can make the biggest difference, so I’d encourage anyone who knows of an area affected by graffiti, litter, fly-tipping or environmental damage to visit the website and submit a referral.”
The referrals were submitted through www.immediatejusticenotts.co.uk, which was launched to give residents a direct way of identifying locations affected by graffiti, litter and other environmental issues that could benefit from visible reparation work.
The work forms part of Nottinghamshire’s Immediate Justice programme, which sees offenders who commit antisocial behaviour and other low-level offences undertake supervised reparation projects that repair the harm caused by their actions while improving neighbourhoods across the county.
The latest evaluation of Nottinghamshire’s Immediate Justice programme highlights the positive difference the scheme is making in communities across the county.
Research commissioned by the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner for Nottinghamshire found that awareness of Immediate Justice has almost tripled since the programme began, while almost half of residents surveyed said they had noticed interventions taking place in their local area.
Of those who had seen activity such as increased police patrols, CCTV improvements or community clean-ups, nearly two-thirds said it made them feel safer, with no respondents saying it made them feel less safe.
The findings also show that public confidence grows when communities can see offenders carrying out visible reparation work. People who had witnessed Immediate Justice activity were significantly more likely to believe the scheme is effective at tackling antisocial behaviour than those who had not, underlining the importance of ensuring local people can see offenders repairing the harm they have caused.
Superintendent Chris Pearson, who leads on Immediate Justice for Nottinghamshire Police, said: “Immediate Justice provides a positive and visible way of addressing the harm caused by antisocial behaviour while strengthening the relationship between policing and the communities we serve.
“The reporting website gives residents a direct voice in identifying locations that would benefit from reparation work, helping us work alongside our partners to prioritise the areas that matter most to local people.
“Alongside providing meaningful consequences for offenders, these projects improve public spaces, strengthen community confidence and demonstrate that concerns raised by residents are being listened to and acted upon.”
Separate evaluation of the programme has also demonstrated its impact on reducing repeat offending. Just nine per cent of offenders who successfully completed an Immediate Justice resolution went on to reoffend within 12 months, compared with 19% of those receiving a traditional resolution and 35% of offenders who were offered Immediate Justice but did not complete the programme.
Alongside improving public spaces through litter picking, graffiti removal and environmental improvements, the scheme aims to increase confidence in the criminal justice system by delivering swift, visible consequences for low-level offending while helping reduce future crime and antisocial behaviour.
A spokesperson for Red Snapper Managed Services added: "We know that the Immediate Justice programme is making a real difference.
"By encouraging offenders to take responsibility for their actions through visible reparative work, the scheme helps reduce reoffending whilst delivering meaningful improvements to local communities.
As part of Antisocial Behaviour Awareness Week, we’re encouraging local people to help shape where that work takes place. Through the immediate justice website, community members can highlight the areas that matter most to them.
"This enables us to direct reparative work to locations where it will have the greatest visible impact, helping to address local concerns, improve neighbourhoods, and deliver outcomes that communities value.’
The Immediate Justice programme forms part of Nottinghamshire’s wider approach to tackling antisocial behaviour by delivering swift, visible and meaningful consequences for offenders while improving the places where people live, work and visit.
Residents can report locations affected by graffiti, litter, fly-tipping and other environmental issues by visiting www.immediatejusticenotts.co.uk, helping direct future Immediate Justice reparation work to where it is needed most.