Immediate Justice

Portslade Gassie - Improving Community Spaces

The Sussex Immediate Justice (IJ) pilot continues to see success in our county with over 319 referrals to date.

An individual was referred to Immediate Justice after receiving a Community Resolution for Shoplifting with the hope that IJ could offer an opportunity for the individual to address the drive behind their offence. After several meetings with the IJ Delivery Officers, the individual worked with local charity and IJ partner, Making it Out (MiO) on one of their ongoing projects to improve the local community and preserve Sussex’s history.

MiO have a workshop in Portslade which looks onto the ‘Portslade Gassie’, a small boat that played a pivotal role within the harbour opposite during the 20th Century. Sadly, over time, this boat has been forgotten and is now covered in weeds.

MiO are keen to preserve our local history and have been working with Immediate Justice referrals to clear weeds and surrounding shrubs that have engulfed the Gassie in order to restore a historical community space.

The individual referred spent six hours clearing a large area of weeds around the Gassie and further referrals to MiO will continue this project. The offender expressed a desire to continue working with MiO in the future.

 

Immediate Justice making a difference to members of the community

Red Snapper Managed Services who are accepting adult referrals across East and West Sussex highlight invaluable feedback from offenders completing reparative activity through Immediate Justice:
'The individual said he really enjoyed the type of work we were doing today because it was meaningful because he felt he was helping others. He said the attachment has made him think he wants to offer more of his own spare time in future and said he is intending to return to Stonepillow to volunteer. Andy, Red Snapper manager said he was impressed with the man’s general attitude to the placement, his motivation and the fact we got a lot done.'

'The individual arrived at the placement early and was getting his introductory talk by the manager Andy Mitchell when I arrived at 9.15am so we were able to start the placement early. I sat through part of the introductory talk where I noticed the offender seemed very engaged, enthusiastic and cooperative. I noticed throughout the placement he worked really hard which meant we go a lot done. We were given the job of tidying/sorting all the beds and mattresses in the warehouse. This was a difficult job as most of the bed frames had been disassembled and not kept together which made it very difficult to match things up. The individual was willing to be directed but also had some good ideas in relation to organising things. He very positively engaged throughout and was easy to work with.'

 

Contributing To Communities:

An individual was caught in possession of cannabis and referred to Immediate Justice to complete reparative activity and was asked to help move wooden pallets in order to build the East Grinstead Bonfire for later in the year.

The individual arrived promptly for their reparative session and engaged positively with the task and other residents working on the build. The activity was very labour intensive, transporting heavy pallets across a field in the rain and the individual felt a great sense of pride at the end of the activity seeing the work they’d contributed to the build. They also expressed an interest in returning to East Grinstead for the bonfire event as he felt proud of being part of the team to build it.

 

Immediate Justice reparative activity takes place in Horsham Town Centre

Horsham Town Centre has seen benefits from the Sussex Immediate Justice programme after reparative activity took place in the Forum carpark.

An individual who committed a public order offence received a Conditional Caution requiring them to complete twelve hours of reparative activity. The case was referred to Horsham District Council’s Parking Manager and to Red Snapper Managed Services, who specialise in intervention services, to organise the clean-up of the Forum carpark, a well-used asset within the town centre.

The individual spent six hours clearing scuffs and dirt from walkways and pavements whilst also removing debris from other areas making a positive difference to the space. It has been suggested that their second session could see them paint over the yellow walkways to further improve the carpark.

 

Graffiti Cleaning in Eastbourne through Red Snapper:

Red Snapper, who manage adult Immediate Justice referrals in East and West Sussex, recently facilitated reparative activity in Eastbourne. The activity included an individual cleaning graffiti off of public spaces after receiving a Conditional Caution.

The individual was referred to the programme and required to complete 6 hours of reparative activity. IJ Facilitators reported that, at first, the individual was hesitant to engage with graffiti cleaning and did not understand how graffiti can be form of vandalism, instead viewing it as art. However, after discussions about how some graffiti could be offensive, can cause damage to property and make local residents feel their neighbourhood is neglected, the individual engaged with the cleaning work and recognised the need to make amends. They also accepted that they could amend their behaviour without having to change their own views on graffiti as an form of artistic expression.

The first reparative session took place at a bus shelter in Eastbourne and the second at an underpass by Princess Park. Whilst undertaking cleaning at both sites, the individual engaged with several members of the public who expressed their gratitude for the removal of the uninvited graffiti.

Speaking about the sessions, the Red Snapper supervisor, Darren said: “The individual openly discussed his offence and said he regrets parts of his offending behaviour. He appreciated that Immediate Justice has kept him from gaining a criminal record especially as he intends to go to university next year.

“Overall, he was very compliant and helpful. He worked hard and was very keen to get the job done. He even said he enjoyed the work and the placement went smoothly. The individual was very cooperative and worked hard.”

 

Recently Red Snapper received an adult  IJ referral after an individual committed three counts of shop theft and was issued a Conditional Caution.

The individual was asked to complete twelve hours of reparative activity clearing public spaces across Burgess Hill and Haywards Heath. Speaking about the activity, his supervisor said: "The individual was very friendly and compliant. He was really well motivated and did everything in a fast efficient way. When we were approached by local residents in Fairfield Recreation Ground and asked if we could help clearing a path which was overgrown with brambles, he was keen to help and even suggested we cleared another more overgrown path which we did."

www.sussex-pcc.gov.uk/about/news/the-sussex-immediate-justice-taskforce-is-now-fully-embedded-across-sussex/ 

Recently an individual who committed Criminal Damage was referred to Immediate Justice to make amends for the harm and damage they had caused. The individual worked with service provider, Making It Out to work to clear and tidy pavements in Portslade to ensure easier access for members of the public passing through: