NCJ Number
207150
Date Published
2004
Length
6 pages
Annotation
This report presents findings from an evaluation study on the United Kingdom’s pilot program “on the spot penalties” (PND's) which is intended to reduce police and court workloads.
Abstract
Introduced under the Criminal Justice and Police Act of 2001, penalty notices or “on the spot penalties” punishes low-level disorder offenses as an alternative way in handling antisocial offending and reducing the workloads of both the police and courts. Penalty notices are issued for offenses such as causing harassment, disorderly behavior, trespassing, sending false messages, throwing stones on railways, and knowingly giving false alarm. An evaluation was conducted on four area police forces which utilized the “on the spot penalties” (PND's) in 2002. The four pilot areas studied were: West Midlands, Essex, Metropolitan police, and North Wales. To assess the success of the PND pilot a range of evidence was used and included data extracted from the new IT system; information on the outcome of a sample of PND's registered at court as fines; Home Office court proceedings and cautions data from two areas, police officer questionnaires, and comments from intranet sites; a Metropolitan police questionnaire; and one-on-one interviews with a sample of 40 officers. After 12 months, 6,043 PND's had been issued with penalty payment rates of around 51 percent paid within the 21-day time period. Most PND's were issued for causing harassment, alarm or distress, and disorderly behavior while drunk. Overall, the PND project has been a success, and police officers have adjusted to this disposal as a way of dealing with antisocial behavior in a swift and decisive manner. Issuing PND's is less time-consuming than current procedures, with an estimated saving of between 1.5 and 2.5 police hours. Recommendations and suggestions for improving the way PND's operate are presented from police officers.