The Drugs and Offender Management Unit of West Yorkshire Police, is the umbrella Department for several crime reduction programmes and initiatives.
With a central office based in Leeds, DOMU has 5 District Hubs (in Leeds, Bradford, Wakefield, Calderdale and Kirklees) which each accommodate a multi-agency partnership team. The teams include personnel from West Yorkshire Police, West Yorkshire Probation, Youth Offending Teams, Prisons, Substance Misuse experts, Housing advisers and experts to assist with Education and Training.
The Programmes managed within DOMU improve community safety and protect members of the public.
IOM Integrated Offender Management
Agencies within the Criminal Justice System (ie Police, Probation, Youth Offending Teams, Prisons) work together with Third Sector support agencies, sharing information and intelligence so that a firmer, more informed grip is held on an offender.
IOM Offenders are selected for intensive management on the basis of their assessed high level of risk of reoffending and negative affect on their communities. If they remain active, these offenders are intensively managed, by high visibility, coercive police tactics. They are regularly visited, watched and monitored, thereby limiting their opportunities to commit crime. They are consistently made aware by their Case Manager, of alternatives to their criminal behaviour and the support available to them if they make a serious and total commitment to changing their offending behaviour.
Those who do make that commitment are offered support and triggers to their offending are identified. This work goes on in the 5 district resettlement Hubs and may involve education and training, help with benefits applications, solving housing issues or health interventions for substance or alcohol misuse.
DIP Drug Interventions Programme
Targeting offenders whose criminal activity is driven by substance misuse, DIP has proved to be a highly affective tool in reducing reoffending and therefore the number of victims of crime. Offenders are tested on arrest and if they test positive for Class A (Heroin, Cocaine, Crack Cocaine) misuse, they are referred to a Drugs Referral Worker for assessment and offered treatment; this is offered at every point of their journey through the Criminal Justice System including Prison. Agencies work in partnership to identify triggers to the individual’s substance misuse and support them with addressing those issues.
PPO Prolific & Priority Offenders
This group of offenders are assessed by police and partners to be those who represent the highest risk of reoffending and harm to communities. They are subject to intensive, high visibility police tactics to manage and monitor them. Each individual offender categorised as PPO is included in the Integrated Offender Management Programme, so that those who show a total commitment to ending their criminal behaviour, can be offered support to help them achieve that via the Rehabilitation and Resettlement Hubs.
DYO Deter Young Offenders
This group of offenders are selected by Youth Offending Teams as those young people aged between 10 and 17 (who have already been sentenced to a community order or detention), who present the highest risk of causing serious harm to communities and the highest risk of reoffending. These young offenders will be intensively managed within the IOM Programme.