Criminal Justice Board
The Essex Criminal Justice Board sits at the centre of the
Criminal 
Justice
System in the county and aims to make sure Essex remains
one of the safest counties in England and Wales for those who live,
work and visit here.
The Criminal Justice Board brings together in partnership the
chief officers from each of the core Criminal Justice Agencies and
has responsibility for overseeing and delivering criminal justice
services across the county. It covers the administrative areas
of Essex County Council and the unitary authorities of Southend and
Thurrock.
Core Justice Agencies in
Essex include Essex Police, the Crown Prosecution Service, Her
Majesty's Courts Service, Essex Probation and Her Majesty's
Prison Service.
Information about these agencies can be found using the links
below or on the DirectGov
website using the link to local crime and
justice.
Information on crime and criminal justice related issues used to
be available on the Essex Criminal Justice Board's website but
can now be found on the DirectGov website too.
The DirectGov website has information about the police including
your rights if arrested, types of crime, crime prevention;
reporting crime and anti-social behaviour, going to court
(including serving as a juror), help for victims and
witnesses, sentencing, prison and probation; crime statistics; the
judicial system and counter terrorism.
Crown Prosecution Service
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) is the principal prosecuting
agency in England and
Wales. It provides charging advice to the police and
prosecutes cases in magistrates' and crown courts.
To find out more about how the CPS works, and for the latest
news on successful prosecutions in Essex, visit its website.
Her Majesty's Courts Service
Her Majesty’s Courts Service (HMCS) is an executive agency of the
Ministry of Justice with
a remit to deliver justice effectively and efficiently.
In England and Wales HMCS is responsible for managing magistrates’
courts; crown courts; county courts; the High Court, Court of
Appeal and the Tribunals Service.
To find out more about HMCS visit its website.
Essex
Probation
Essex Probation works with offenders from first court appearance
to completion of
sentence to protect the public and reduce re-offending.
They do this by delivering the sentences of the courts through
credible and effective community punishments, including a range of
programmes to change offending behaviour.
To find out more about the work of Essex Probation, and to find
out how you can get involved in deciding on unpaid work projects
that offenders can carry out in your local area, visit its
website.
Her Majesty's Prison
Service
Her Majesty’s Prison Service is responsible for holding prisoners
securely, either
while on remand before conviction, or following sentence.
In addition to protecting the public by holding prisoners securely,
HMPS is charged with reducing the risk of prisoners re-offending by
delivering a range of interventions and programmes to address the
issues that contribute to their offending behaviour.
To find out more about the work of Her Majesty’s Prison Service
visit its website.
Youth Offending
Teams
Youth Offending Teams (YOTs) are multi-agency partnerships aiming
to prevent offending by children and young people. This is achieved
by working together with young people, their parents or carers, the
victims of crime and other agencies or organisations, including the
local community.
In Essex there are Youth Offending Teams
covering the Essex County Council area and information on their
work can be found at http://www.essex.gov.uk/, for
Southend at www.southend.gov.uk and for
Thurrock at www.thurrock.gov.uk.
Victim Support
Victim Support is an independent charity that aims to help all
victims and witnesses of crime. Its services are free of charge and
completely confidential.
Victim Support works closely with the Police and other criminal
justice agencies, working on referrals from them, but you can
contact Victim Support for help if you’ve been a victim of a crime,
even if the crime has not been reported to the police.
Victim Support also runs the Witness Service in every criminal
court, to help people who have been called as witnesses.
To find out more about the work of Victim Support, or to volunteer
with them, visit the charity's website.
NSPCC
The National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children
(NSPCC) aims to end cruelty to children in the UK by: campaigning
for children’s rights
and welfare; raising public awareness around issues relating to
child abuse; running services for children, young people and their
families; raising funds to maintain these services.
The NSPCC accepts referrals from criminal justice agencies to
support young victims of crime who are required to give evidence in
courts. To find out more visit the NSPCC's website.
Legal Services
Commission
The Legal Services Commission (LSC) runs the legal aid scheme in
England and Wales and helps people in need receive high
quality legal advice, assistance and representation.
To find out more visit the commission's website.
Community Safety
Partnerships
Community Safety Partnerships (CSPs) are statutory bodies bringing
together representatives of local authorities, the emergency
services, health authorities, housing associations and other
statutory and voluntary organisations to address crime and
anti-social behaviour in your local community.
In the administrative areas covered Essex County
Council there are 12 Community Safety Partnerships:
Braintree: www.braintree.gov.uk;
Brentwood: www.brentwood.gov.uk;
Castle Point: www.castlepoint.gov.uk;
Chelmsford: www.chelmsford.gov.uk;
Colchester: www.colchester-community-safety.org.uk;
Epping Forest: www.eppingforestdc.gov.uk;
Harlow: www.saferharlow.info;
Maldon: www.maldon.gov.uk;
Rochford: www.rochford.gov.uk;
Tendring: http://www.tendringcsp.co.uk/;
Uttlesford: www.uttlesford.gov.uk.
There are also Community Safety Partnerships in both the unitary
authority areas of Southend and Thurrock:
Southend: www.southendcdrp.co.uk;
Thurrock: www.thurrock.gov.uk/safety;
