Deptford police pilot Boris' re-offending initiative

Lewisham Deptford Prospective Parliamentary Candidate, Gemma Townsend, is a policing and crime researcher at City Hall. This is the first of her blogs on the topic in Lewisham.

As part of my day job as a Policing and Crime Researcher, I attended a visit to Deptford Police Station last week, where I met members of the Diamond District Unit and Lewisham based Police Officers.

Officers gathered to meet Deputy Mayor for Policing, Kit Malthouse and Acting Deputy Commissioner Tim Godwin, to talk about the work they have been up to in the past few months to reduce re-offending in Lewisham.

Diamond District is an initiative being piloted in three London boroughs, the main objective being to reduce re-offending rates. The initiative brings together colleagues from the police, probation and local authorities, and builds on the successful Safer Neighbourhoods policing model.

The initiative was welcomed by Boris last July and is hugely important as at the moment 64% of offenders currently re-offend within two years of completing their prison sentence. This is even higher for offenders who receive short-term custody (under 12 months) at 73.4%.


Gemma Townsend.