The current approach to criminal justice and rehabilitation isn’t working. Court Backlogs are at record highs, trust in Policing is low and prisons are overcrowded. This puts a strain on the entire criminal justice system, leading to inefficient prosecutions and lengthy case durations.
The Broken System
The growing complexity of modern society demands a police force that can adapt and meet the needs of its communities. Effective communication is crucial, ensuring officers and staff have the information they need to make informed decisions on the street.
Furthermore, the high recidivism rate – with adults released from short sentences having 55.5% chance of re-offending – further contributes to the rise in case backlogs and highlights the shortcomings of our current rehabilitation efforts. Courts are not effectively reducing crime, which is creating a revolving door that burdens the entire system.
The Power of Out of Court Resolutions (OoCRs)
Make Time Count Today is a Social Enterprise, driving innovation and resilience in the Justice Sector. Our digital solution is revolutionising UK Policing, streamlining the existing justice process, and promoting the use of alternatives to the traditional, ineffective “send them to court” route..
OoCRs allow officers to resolve low-level offences outside of court and, in most cases, provide an equivalent resolution as a court would, while taking up a significantly less amount of time, freeing up valuable resources and focusing attention on more serious crimes. The outcome is swifter justice for victims and reduced reoffending. Research shows that effective communication, accurate prosecution, and sufficient support services are essential for successful OoCRs and reduced reoffending. OoCRs offer a powerful solution, but only if coupled with the right tools. This is why we provide our services with the goal of promoting OoCRs where possible, and supplying front line officers with the tools to make quick, effective and accurate decisions.
Our solution allows officers to directly reference an offender’s actions to the relevant laws, providing reasoning behind decisions, evaluating users’ needs and directly referring to community partners. This allows officers to be transparent, providing reassurance that offenders are receiving a fair resolution, both helping offenders understand their prosecution as well as comfort victims in knowing the laws and reasons behind the resolution.
Make Time Count Today empowers police officers by providing them with the tools they need to make informed decisions:
- Eligibility Screening: Using crime severity, the “gravity matrix” of mitigating and aggravating factors, user history and local policies, an officer can be directed to the most suitable outcome for the offender.
- Criminogenic Needs Assessment: Used to evaluate the factors that contribute to an individual’s likelihood of committing criminal behaviour or reoffending based on factors such as: Criminal History, Substance Abuse, Education and Employment, Family, Social Support etc.
- “One click referral” to relevant partners: Eliminating the admin of connecting with local support agencies
- 360 Degree Feedback: Giving all users a voice in the process and understanding what works for which user groups
- All available on the move: Enabling officers to make informed decisions about outcomes and appropriate referrals on the street, eliminating hours or custody time.
By streamlining the process and investing in rehabilitation, we aim to:
- Reduce court backlogs by diverting low-level offences.
- Lower reoffending rates by providing offenders with the support they need to reintegrate into society.
- Improve victim satisfaction by ensuring clear communication and rapid, fair resolutions, reducing the time it takes for victims to receive justice – By going to court, victims could wait up to 3 years to receive a judgement.
Investing in Rehabilitation
Our platform goes beyond simply diverting cases and reducing court backlogs. Our digital solutions also focus on improving rehabilitation rates for offenders. By connecting offenders with vital support services, we link them with rehabilitation services that equip them with the skills and resources necessary to avoid reoffending and reintegrate into their communities. This aligns with ongoing government initiatives to reduce reoffending by providing better resettlement support for prison leavers.
Making a Difference
As a social enterprise, not only we are committed to providing solutions that help society, 51% of all profits are reinvested into our “Chances” fund that help those impacted by the criminal justice system start their own businesses.
Our solution can help to tackle the 353,000 backlogged cases for Magistrates courts and 65,000 cases for the Crown Court, by diverting low-level crime to OoCRs. By diverting just 10,000 cases from courts to Out Of Court Resolutions, we believe that it will save £28.5million and an estimated 239,135 hours, which can be reallocated to other needs for the police.
Our mission is to reduce reoffending, transform the way that police work and how offenders are managed and make a positive difference to the lives of victims and communities. Our goals and achievements have been acknowledged by several awarding bodies, where in our brief history we have so far won:
- InnovateUK Grant x 2
- Best Digital Transformation Product 2022
- Police Innovation Award
- Governance Impact Award for ‘Resilient Innovation’ 2024
Ready to transform the justice sector? Contact us today to discuss how we can benefit your police force or organisation at https://maketimecount.today/contact/
Together we can work to break the cycle of reoffending and build a safer future for all.