Saturday 17th October, 2009

The inside story on Inside Justice Week

Inside Justice Week is a major public initiative running from 17–24 October that aims to open up the Criminal Justice System (CJS) to the public through a week of coordinated events and media activity across England and Wales.

Activities in Wiltshire and Swindon for Inside Justice Week will be coordinated by the Wiltshire Criminal Justice Board (WCJB).

The WCJB, in partnership with criminal justice agencies and partner organisations across Wiltshire and Swindon, are set to stage a range of interesting events to encourage people to get involved in local justice.rnrnCriminal justice organisations will also seek to inform the staff they employ about the work of individual agencies.

Clearly, this is important because CJS staff are advocates for the system as a whole, with the potential to increase confidence through the messages they communicate to members of the public.

Karen Harrold, Chair of WCJB, explained: “Our vision is that the criminal justice service in Wiltshire is effective, transparent, and has the interests of victims and witnesses at its heart.

“Inside Justice Week shows local communities how justice is being done in their area, encouraging people to get involved and have their say so that we can really tackle local concerns.”

Joe Coleshill, Programmes Team Manager at Wiltshire Probation, commented: “It is important that the public have an increased understanding of and confidence in the Criminal Justice System as it clearly impacts on them in their ommunities.

“By giving the public this ‘inside view’ we can ensure that the important and valuable work we do with offenders is understood and acknowledged.”

It is vital that the public has confidence in the CJS. If people are confident, they are more likely to report crime or, if they are a witness, they are more likely to turn up and give evidence in court.

“I am pleased to have so many Wiltshire Probation Area staff members involved in Inside Justice Week this year as it a key way of improving public confidence and for staff to proudly illustrate the valuable work they do,” added Joe Coleshill.

Karen Harrold concluded: “Inside Justice Week offers an excellent opportunity to find out more about how the Criminal Justice System works in Wiltshire and what it is doing to address the issues that matter most to local people.

“We really encourage the public to come along and experience the range of activities on offer. At the same time we’d also encourage everyone to ask questions and pass on ideas about what we can do to help ensure that victims and witnesses of crime receive a better service. We want to ensure that offences are dealt with more efficiently and crime is cut in Wiltshire so community views are important to us.

Many recently appointed staff at Wiltshire Probation will attend Inside Justice Week Staff Engagement Conference in Chippenham at Bowood House, but there’s also a cross–agency mobile exhibition to target harder–to–reach communities and Wiltshire Criminal Justice Board members have agreed also to take part in Unpaid Work during the week.

A summary of regional events is outlined below. For more information about the national campaign, a full timetable of events is available online by visiting www.insidejustice.cjsonline.gov.uk

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