Local Criminal Justice Boards were set up throughout England and Wales in 2003 to improve public confidence in the Justice System, concentrate on reducing crime in communities and ensure more offenders were brought to justice through a tighter system.
Each Board comprises the Chief Officers from the main Criminal Justice agencies; Police, Probation Service, Prisons, Courts, Youth Offending and Crown Prosecution Service (CPS).
One of the biggest changes the LCJB faced was the way in which the separate elements of the CJS were expected to work together.
The LCJB was set ambitious targets by central government to improve the delivery of justice in Gloucestershire and commissioned Montpellier to help bridge the communications and cultural gap between the individual agencies and, importantly, raise public awareness of the Board.
Based on an extremely tight budget the LCJB and the individual agencies required a quick translation of initiatives into impactful and meaningful publicity profiles to support this creative integrated approach to justice.
Internal and external communication was paramount in supporting the new Board. The work ethic of the individual agencies needed to change radically if they were to successfully adapt to a fully integrated system.
An efficient and highly targeted PR campaign was to play a vital role in public education and national Inside Justice Week provided an ideal platform for this activity.
A regular and planned drip-feed of press articles was scheduled to ensure gathering momentum of Inside Justice Week and maximise the potential of the messages.
Key strategies identified:
• Make the public aware of Gloucestershire’s Board through the national awareness
campaign Inside Justice Week
• Smart use of consultancy time which drilled down to full ownership of project by the
account manager with limited strategic output from the account director
• Promote the work of the Board so far and how it is helping to reduce crime
in Gloucestershire
• Put faces to names and responsibilities to demystify the System for the public
• Highlight the human angle of the people in the system
• Increase public confidence surrounding the local justice system
With almost daily input into an extremely demanding account including meetings, site checks and supplier liaison the planning time was compacted and decisions needed to be made quickly to capitalise on coverage and make use of limited time.
Regular liaison with central Government and justice departments in Gloucestershire ensured that potential ‘red tape’ was slashed. Controlled project management ensured implementation of programme elements moved on quickly, once approved.
Montpellier proposed the culmination of Inside Justice Week was to be an Open Court Day for the public, to accommodate a busy court schedule, with the added bonus of a Q&A session with Gloucestershire’s leading criminal law officer Judge Jamie Tabor, QC. A town crier was hired to officiate and create interest in the streets, alongside a live broadcast on local radio.
A corporate identity was designed for the Gloucestershire Board which incorporated the logos of all the Justice Agencies. This identity was reflected through a range of corporate literature – exhibition stands, posters, information leaflets and folders – that were utilised at the events and for media and public information.
Initial focus was concentrated on the internal communication that, in the past, had caused major problems due to operating departments who had very different agendas – and budgets. Montpellier created a newsletter which was distributed to all agencies and invited feedback, opinions and articles, reinforcing the shared values of individual agencies.
The Results (evaluation and measurement)
Despite restricted time allowance the campaign was a huge success and resulted in Gloucestershire being spotlighted as the joint top area for coverage across the 42 Boards in England and Wales and being promoted as the national template for best practise across CJS Boards nationwide.
The Open Court Day was crammed with more than 500 visitors and provided a backdrop for a number of pioneering initiatives including Prolific and Other Priority Offenders (POPO) and Anti-social Behavioural Orders (ASBOS).
The client described awareness and press coverage throughout Inside Justice Week as “hugely successful and beyond their expectations”. BBC Radio Gloucestershire kicked off the week by conducting a live interview with Baroness Scotland, Minister of State for the Criminal Justice System. A public ‘phone-in session was conducted by Gloucestershire Police’s Chief Constable Timothy Brain.
The Gloucestershire Echo and Gloucester Citizen published a week long series of ‘day in the life of’ page and double page spreads, with the event trailed in the run up.
Articles publicising the Open Court Day appeared Gloucester Citizen, Gloucestershire Echo and the Stroud News and Journal and Severn Sound FM interviewed Roger Coe-Salazar from the CPS. Local broadcasters provided live coverage and local press photographers attended the open court day which led to subsequent picture stories the following week.
Montpellier has been asked to devise a long term proposal to support future Inside Justice Week campaigns and other LCJBs have used the Gloucestershire PR programme as a template for their local profiles.