27/10/2021
Police Oracle
Work with offenders on today’s report from the Howard League on police partnership schemes that are tackling the link between addiction to gambling and crime
Problem gambling leads to crime, but there is a worrying lack of knowledge or targeted activity within the criminal justice system to address it, a briefing by the Commission on Crime and Problem Gambling reveals today.
For the last two years, the Commission, set up by the Howard League for Penal Reform and chaired by Lord Goldsmith QC, has been investigating the links between problem gambling and crime; what impact they have on communities and wider society; and what steps could be taken to reduce crime and make people safer.
The Commission’s briefing, State of Play, summarises the evidence uncovered so far and makes some initial recommendations to government and policymakers. The report also includes the findings from new research with sentencers, which demonstrates that, although problem gambling is recognised as a mental health disorder, offending related to it is not being dealt with in an appropriate way.
Main findings
The briefing highlights the main concerns about gambling-related crime which criminal justice practitioners have started to raise as a growing issue in their work over recent years with the explosion of internet-based gambling.
Problem gambling leads to crime, for the simple reason that it is an escalating addiction which requires escalating funds.
The report also says the confiscation of assets under the Proceeds of Crime Act needs to be reviewed.
There is a danger that responses to problem gambling and crime can lead to inappropriate up-tariffing, such as replacing fines with more punitive community orders and treatment requirements. The emphasis should be on diversion from the criminal justice system wherever possible.
Examples of good practice do exist, particularly at the very front end of the criminal justice system where police first make contact with individuals who may have committed crimes where problem gambling is a factor. The briefing highlights two best practice projects which are summarised below.
Best practice
The Hertfordshire Problem Gambling Project was run by GamCare and funded by the local Police and Crime Commissioner’s Innovation Fund. It ran for two years from October 2018 to the end of September 2020, although the impact of Covid-19 disrupted the project’s operations in its final six months.
The project took a ‘whole system’ approach to understand where best to intervene within the criminal justice system, so as to identify and support individuals experiencing gambling-related harms. Activities included the formation of a network of supporting criminal justice organisations, the training of practitioners to raise awareness of problem gambling and crime, the introduction of a screening questions (eventually streamlined to a single question) at key stages within the system (including during induction to probation services, and at both induction and resettlement stages within The Mount prison), and the creation of referral pathways into GamCare’s existing support and treatment services. GamCare has succeeded in securing additional funding and is currently scaling up delivery.
Beacon Counselling Trust, in partnership with GamCare, Cheshire Constabulary and Mitie Care in Custody, ran a pilot project in Cheshire primarily based in police custody suites, which screened arrested individuals for signs of problem gambling and referred them into treatment.
Over 250 individuals from a variety of organisations involved with the wider criminal justice system in Cheshire received training to raise awareness and use a screening tool. This included police custody suite staff, medical and nursing staff, and prison officers from several prisons in the county.
Beacon Counselling Trust and its partners are now working with five other forces in England – Merseyside, Lancashire, Cumbria, Greater Manchester and West Midlands – plus those in Scotland and Wales, to develop screening and referral pathways to gambling treatment providers across each force area.
They are also collaborating with NHS England Liaison and Diversion services, with the ultimate aim to make training and awareness available for all police staff in custody suites, as well as to introduce specialist trained key workers into custody suites who can provide referral into treatment services.
Recommendations
The briefing recommends that, as a first step, the Ministry of Justice should review what improvements can be made including awareness raising and training among practitioners, the assessment of individuals in the criminal justice system, and improving specialist services.
It also recommends that the Sentencing Council should guide improvements to sentencing so as to ensure crime committed linked to problem gambling is appropriately dealt with by the courts.