POLICE, probation and prison services in West Yorkshire say they are working well together to protect the public from dangerous offenders, even though figures show the rate of re-offending among this group nationally has gone up.
In the county there are 1,387 registered sex offenders and 63 of them were caught breaking their notification requirements, such as telling police when they change address.
Across Yorkshire eight had committed serious offences such as murder, rape or another serious crime.
They were among 83 freed criminals nationwide charged with carrying out a serious offence while under the supervision of the probation service and other agencies, compared with 61 in 2005/06.
Twelve of those crimes were carried out by offenders among 1,249 assessed as the “critical few” with the highest risk of harming the public and supposedly under the most rigorous supervision.
The figures were revealed in a report released by the Multi Agency Public Protection Arrangement (Mappa).
This highlights the support given to victims of violent and sexual crimes and what actions are taken to protect the public from these offenders.
The annual report shows a low level of serious re-offending in West Yorkshire and gives a clear context to what it actually means in practice to work with these offenders.
The report demonstrates how the Mappa process of identification, assessment and management of sexual and violent offenders is achieved by applying a structured approach from prison through to supervision and monitoring in the community.
Roger Hill, director of the Probation Service said: “The Mappa annual reports offer an excellent opportunity to see how the most dangerous offenders are managed and to see the tireless efforts of staff to ensure that the protection of the public and reduction in re-offending is kept at the forefront of their work.
"There are no easy solutions with offenders having such complex histories and multiple needs, but here we see detailed sentence planning, careful monitoring and swift intervention before behaviour escalates to serious re-offending."
A West Yorkshire Police spokesman said: “We are fully committed to involvement in the Mappa process.’’
