NCJ Number
212527
Date Published
2004
Length
101 pages
Annotation
This report presents an evaluation of the pilot phase of the Safer School Partnerships (SSP), an initiative of the Department for Employment and Skills (DfES) and the Youth Justice Board for England and Wales.
Abstract
Youth crime has come to national attention due to an increase in anti-social behaviors, gun crimes, and street crimes committed by youth in England and Wales. Research and intervention work has long focused on the role of the school environment in promoting or preventing crime among youth. This report presents an evaluation of the pilot SSP initiative, which placed an operational officer in 11 SSP schools in high crime areas; 2 schools in high crime areas were selected to serve as a comparison and thus did not have an officer placement. The SSP models usually involved a full-time police officer, a full-time project worker, and administrative support. Evaluation data included both qualitative and quantitative data drawn from official statistics on local areas and schools, information from school and police personnel, and information from young people. Data on the impact on young people were collected from 1,175 youth before the intervention and from 859 youth following the intervention. Results identified barriers to smooth implementation, which included a lack of clarity around management and supervision arrangements, as well as factors contributing to successful implementation, such as having a clear protocol and access to sufficient resources. Quantitative data indicated an improvement in young people’s perceptions of the quality of the school environment, although decreases in bullying and other forms of victimization were not apparent. The findings indicate that the deployment of officers may have been too thinly spread to have an impact on the wider school community. Footnotes, tables, charts, references