Invite Community Prosecutors to speak at your event

As part of the Community Prosecutor approach, prosecutors are keen to speak with local people and provide information on how the CPS works, how decisions are made and what can be done to help your community.

If you would like to arrange for a community prosecutor to speak at your event please contact community engagement managers: jeet.khosa@cps.gsi.gov.uk for South Yorkshire and Humberside and lizzy.mills@cps.gsi.gov.uk for West Yorkshire and North Yorkshire.

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Community Prosecutors

The community prosecutor is a new initiative which has been piloted in 30 areas across the country. Four of those areas are in our region. These are: Doncaster, Grimsby, Hull and Wakefield.

The "Engaging Communities in Criminal Justice" Green Paper, released on 29 April 2009, introduced proposals for new ways of giving people more say in how justice is delivered in their neighbourhoods and encourages public participation in this vital process. This has led to the community prosecutor approach.

Building on the current community engagement work underway in each of the four areas mentioned, the CPS must also:

  • Make community-aware casework decisions
  • Helping to tackle concerns about crime in our local communities
  • Increase the visibility of the CPS in responding to local crime and disorder concerns.

Case Study

Shortly after the Community Prosecutor pilot project was launched in June 2009, an 18-year-old girl from Wakefield was arrested by West Yorkshire Police. The case resulted in the first community prosecutor prosecution in West Yorkshire.

The previous day she was seen with a group of youths causing a nuisance in Wakefield Bus Station. This particular problem had been identified as a priority by the local community at the City and St John's Police and Communities Together (PACT) meeting in Wakefield town centre.

She was ordered to leave the Alcohol Free Zone in the city centre for a period of 48 hours, but was found by officers on patrol within the prohibited zone less than 24 hours later, again in the bus station with a group of other youths.

She later appeared before Wakefield Magistrates and was convicted of the offence, receiving a total of £240 in fines.

Case study

A lawyer in Doncaster attended a Partners and Communities Together (PACT) meeting hosted by the South Yorkshire Police. During the meeting local residents told him of the effects local prostitution was having on their quality of life. They explained that those charged with soliciting for prostitution were back on the streets the same day due to bail conditions being relaxed.

The same lawyer was in court a week later prosecuting a similar case. When he heard an application for the bail conditions to be relaxed, he was able to make the court aware of the effect this had on local residents'.

The court decided not to relax the bail conditions taking into account the residents concerns.

This result was fed back to members of the PACT meeting.