West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner David Jamieson is to host a conference focussing on the health and mental well-being of offenders in a bid to reduce crime and the number of victims.
Seventy experts from across the health, justice and social care fields will attend the event at Molineux tomorrow (WED) from 9.30am.
The aim is to raise awareness about offender mental health and come up with recommendations to improve the system and ensure people are getting the correct treatment for their needs.
It will centre around four pillars: prevent, protect, management and recovery.
West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner David Jamieson said: “We work to reduce offending because, quite simply, fewer offenders mean fewer victims.
“Half of prisoners have mental health problems and we should be seeking to tackle such issues so that instead of offenders costing us money, they are net contributors through gaining employment and paying taxes.
“Ensuring people receive the correct treatment for their needs is paramount. For example, to make sure people experiencing mental health problems do not end up in cells, we set up a ground-breaking triage scheme. I will work to ensure the continued success of this scheme, which has saved taxpayers more than £1 million and halved the number of people detrained under S136 of the Mental Health Act by seeing a team of police officers, psychiatric nurses and paramedics attend people in crisis in unmarked vehicles.
“This conference will bring together experts from across the region to share best practice.
“Mental health is something that impacts many of us and it’s therefore vital that we focus on it fully and make sure we’re doing all we can.”
During the day, there will be speeches, discussions, workshops and Q&A sessions. A report will be published following the event based on the information produced during the day.
Speakers include PCC David Jamieson, Birmingham’s Director of Public Health Adrian Phillips and Care Not Custody Director Jenny Talbot OBE.
The event is running at Molineux, Waterloo Road, Wolverhampton, from 9.30am. The Office of the West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner is hosting the event with the support of Public Health England, NHS England, Staffordshire and West Mercia Community Rehabilitation Company, Probation, West Midlands Police and the National Offender Management Service.
Back to News Archive