For the last five years there has been a dedicated team of highly motivated and skilled, individuals working with Halton's most prolific offenders, known as the PPO team.

Created in September 2004 with a team of two Police officers, a Probation Officer, drugs workers and an Administration Assistant, the PPO team is based at Ashley House in Widnes.

So why have a PPO team? Statistics suggest that approximately 10% of criminals are responsible for half of all crime, with a cost to the borough both in terms of money spent by the public services to deal with these crimes and the cost to the community in terms of public confidence and quality of life.

It is the most active and prolific of these criminals that the PPO team identify and manage, the majority of which are those with drug and alcohol issues that commit a wide range of offences such as robbery, burglary, and theft of and from motor vehicles, in order to fund their habits.

The PPO team currently manage 25 offenders with the sole aim of reducing their re-offending rate. This is evidenced by a 19% reduction in their rate of offending and is achieved by tackling their individual problems such as drug/alcohol misuse and other social/mental issues.

Since the scheme began 77 people have been registered as PPO'S and 52 of those have been taken off the scheme because their offending in Halton has been reduced significantly.

It is hoped that with their hard work and dedication the PPO team has helped to improve the safety of the community, raise public confidence, and reduce the amount of money spent by public services dealing with this type of criminal activity.