High-risk offenders and public protection

Public protection is now a key aim of the National Probation Service (NPS), and in particular the effective community management of high-risk offenders. This chapter reviews the main legislative, policy and practice responses to these offenders, and how the NPS, in partnership with other agencies, is responding to this challenging area of work. Key developments such as the Multi-Agency Public Protection Arrangements (MAPPA) are explored as is the range of offenders covered by these new partnerships. The impact on probation is discussed, with specific attention to risk assessment and the main assessment tools. The chapter concludes by examining risk management and briefly contrasts the two main approaches of ‘community protection’ and the ‘public health’ model.