What is a prolific offender?
The scheme is based on the proposition that in a given area, up to 80 per cent of crime is attributable to 20 per cent of the offenders living there. It therefore follows that if criminal justice organisations target those offenders they can have a disproportionate impact on the number of crimes and therefore the number of victims in that community. ASPOS concentrates on those offenders who are causing the most harm to the community and for whom other sentencing options have failed. Police intelligence and probation records are used to place individuals within a targeting matrix to ensure that only the most prolific offenders are adopted by the scheme. Criteria for inclusion in the scheme are clear. Candidates, men or women, will qualify if their offending has a serious impact on the community in which they live. This will usually include domestic burglary and/or car theft. They will satisfy a number of criteria in terms of the nature and frequency of their previous offences and previo
