4:31pm Tuesday 16th March 2010
By David Watkinson
THERE are 567 prolific criminals operating in Lancashire, new figures have revealed.
The regular offenders are responsible for 10 per cent of all crime in the county according to the Home Office, which collects the stats.
The total has risen from 498 the previous year but police said there was a lot of work taking place across the county to tackle so-called prolific and priority offenders (PPOs).
Lancashire's is the sixth highest level in the country and is more than the total in Merseyside, which is 503.
In both Blackburn and Burnley the Revolution project has been set up to help prolific offenders by bringing together agencies including the police, drug and social workers.
They are also given assistance with finding employment and housing.
Nationally, the number of PPOs has fallen from 17,007 in 2005/6 to 15,126 in 2008/9.
Inspector John Clucas said that in Lancashire there was a ‘hardcore’ of persistent criminals responsible for crimes including burglary, robbery, drug dealing and vandalism.
Insp Clucas said: “We have a responsiblity to identify the offenders who cause the most harm in the community and divert extra resources into managing them. That is both when they commit crimes and when they are released from prision to ensure that they can break out of their criminal behaviour.
“These people are committing a large volume of offences and it becomes a big priority in their area to manage their behaviour.
“We try to reduce their impact on the community and turn around their behaviour.
“If that doesn’t happen then they get longer prison sentences or long community sentences when they pay back the people they have affected.
“The bottom line is that crime is on the decrease in Lancashire but there will always be a level of crime that is committed in the county.”
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