Rehabilitation Award

Offending To Recovery Team

West Midlands Police

The Offending to Recovery Programme (O2R) is a partnership venture initiated by West Midlands Police, working with the business sector and local authorities to tackle drug related retail crime which is all too common in society today.

The programme targets individuals with high levels of criminal activity within retail crime, motivated by a Class A addiction, poor wellbeing, and often co-morbidities, particularly mental health conditions. It is an attempt to respond to prolific offenders in a meaningful way with clear recovery pathways. These include residential rehabilitation and innovative treatment via medication which seeks to secure long-term behavioural change and reduce shop theft and violence towards staff.

Since the programmes full inception in 2021 the team have supported hundreds of the West Midlands most prolific retail offenders. Addressing the source of their offending. The O2R programme provides dedicated support in a way not explored before. The persistent outreach work by the the team is unique to the O2R programme,and results in engagement with drug-dependent retail offenders who need support, but are not in touch with the services where they could be helped.

  • This small team is staffed by 2 full time designated police officers and 2 drug support workers.
  • The team engages with the client from the initial referral stage, with referrals often coming from retailers and store security personnel.
  • The team will then meet with the client to discuss their addiction issues and their offending habits. A plan will then be devised for a pathway to success.
  • This will include arranging housing, NHS registration, DWP applications and a treatment process amongst others.

The O2R team will personally escort the individual to all appointments to minimise risk of failure. Ensuring a solid personal foundation is in place for the client is imperative before addressing their addiction issues which are subsequently leading them to commit retail crime. Staff will then intensively work with the individual for an indeterminate period of time to ensure their recovery journey is successful and that their offending habits have minimised/ceased.

O2R staff have funding for residential rehab placements whereby a clients physical addiction will be addressed, alongside the mental aspect of addiction. This reflective practice often leads to clients requesting to partake in restorative justice with retailers and staff who they have impacted along their offending journey.
Clients who have completed the O2R programme have also participated in loss prevention days within stores, advising retail management on store security and trialling the new prevention methods that are being introduced in stores.

O2R staff will also utilise new drug treatments such as the opiate blocker, Buvidal. This slow release monthly injection is prescribed and eliminates the physical craving for opiates i.e heroin. This allows the client to focus their time on self improvement, as they are not on a daily script. This treatment method also eliminates clients attending high streets to pick up alternative medication such as methadone, thus removing temptation to commit retail crime.

  • The team work closely with retailers and regularly provide crime prevention inputs to staff in stores across the West Midlands , providing a direct contact for referrals to the programme.
  • The team are often invited to retail conferences to discuss the scheme and showcase their results.
  • The initiative has been so successful, that other police forces in England are replicating the teams model to launch their own Offending To Recovery programme.

The team are changing peoples lives every day. With many of our past clients now in employment,education and training. Many have their family back together and are thriving within society. O2R is committed to reducing crime against retailers across the West Midlands, using a unique model that is returning impressive results across all relevant performance indicators.I believe the team deserve recognition for this incredible work and commitment to reducing retail crime. Along with their support of  individuals that society has largely given up on.

I respectfully submit this nomination on their behalf for your consideration.

Stuart Toogood

I am honored to nominate Stuart Toogood for his exceptional work on the Offender to Rehab...

Your Shortlist

Nobody Shortlisted

Total Shortlisted: 0