Summary
Public Protection Panels (PPPs), or similarly named bodies, play the key role in this area by allowing representatives of the police, probation service and other local agencies to exchange information and formulate risk management plans in relation to individual offenders. Some police areas have operated such panels on a voluntary basis for several years. Others have set up new partnerships and panels in response to the Sex Offenders Act 1997 and associated Home Office circulars, which required all police forces to become responsible for maintaining registers of convicted sex offenders resident in their area and, in consultation with the probation service, to assess and manage the risk they posed. This study reveals a wide range of working practices within different police force areas particularily in terms of the prioritization of cases, working relationships between agencies and organizational arrangements, and it also serves to identify proven good practices.