Jersey Multi-Agency Public Protection Arrangements (JMAPPA)

1. Purpose

The purpose of the Jersey Multi Agency Public Protection Arrangements (JMAPPA) is to coordinate the management of individuals assessed as posing a risk of serious harm to others through sexual and/or violent offending, by ensuring that all relevant agencies work together effectively to:

  • Identify all relevant offenders;
  • Share information;
  • Complete comprehensive risk assessments;
  • Devise, implement and review Risk Management Plans;
  • Focus the available resources to best protect the public from serious harm.

The principal responsibility for protecting the public from sexual and violent offenders rests with the criminal justice agencies. However, effective public protection requires more than just a criminal justice response. Other agencies, for example those involved in the safeguarding of children or vulnerable adults or those providing help with employment, substance misuse and accommodation play an important role in reducing harmful re-offending.

While the professional starting points and finishing points of agencies may be different, a formal means of co-operation is required when their responsibilities and expertise overlap. Without co-operation, there is a risk of collision – agencies unintentionally frustrating or compromising the work of one another, sometimes with dangerous consequences. Cooperation also ensures that all agencies involved know what the others are doing and gaps in public protection plans are avoided.

2. Duty to Cooperate (or Legislative Framework and Agency Responsibility)

The Sex Offenders (Jersey) Law 2010 is the legal foundation for JMAPPA.

Article 28 of the law imposes a duty on the Chief Police Officer to enter into an agreement which sets out the general arrangements to assess and manage each person who poses a risk of sexual harm and is sentenced under the law. The agreement goes further than the statutory obligation toward sexual offenders and sets out the general arrangements to assess and manage sexual, violent and dangerous offenders as well as potentially dangerous persons.

The agreement, implementation and review of the JMAPP arrangements is made with the main criminal justice agencies for example the Probation and Prison Services and the 'Ministers' departments such as Health, Children Services and Adult Social Care Services. JMAPPA is assisted by 'Interested Parties'/partner agencies which include organisations that provide accommodation such as Andium and the Shelter Trust; organisations that provide support to children in need or at risk for example NSPCC; victims of sexual violence and domestic abuse, for example IDVAs. Under the JMAPP arrangements, there is a stated duty of cooperation between agencies which includes the sharing of information.

3. Process

The JMAPPA team coordinate meetings to facilitate the sharing of information between specialists from those statutory and voluntary sectors. After sharing all relevant information that they have about an adult who presents a risk, the JMAPPA attendees discuss options for managing the risks that the JMAPPA subject poses, ways to increase the safety of persons at risk and form a coordinated action plan.

At the heart of JMAPPA is a working assumption that no single agency or individual can see the complete picture of the life and lifestyle of a person who poses a risk to the public, but all may have insights or professional opinions that are crucial to enabling and assisting public safety, as part of the coordinated approach to public protection.

The person who poses the risk does not attend the meeting. The JMAPPA subject is generally aware that they are involved in the JMAPPA process and the risks they are assessed as posing are fully discussed with them but occasionally, in order to protect specific individual(s), this information may not be supplied to the JMAPPA subject.

If a Safeguarding Adults referral indicates there could be concerns that the Adult at Risk is a victim of domestic abuse or any form of violence and this is confirmed by a subsequent investigation and risk assessment, a decision must be taken at the Strategy Meeting/Discussion or Safeguarding Plan Meeting about referral to JMAPPA.

Decisions about who should make that referral must be recorded. Discussing the case with the JMAPPA coordinator will ascertain whether the person alleged to have caused the harm is known to JMAPPA. Victim information should be made available to JMAPPA, or perpetrator information can be supplied by JMAPPA within the bounds of the Protocol for Information Exchange between States Departments. In most cases, this would be the Senior Safeguarding Practitioner.

The JMAPPA team can be contacted via e-mail: jmappa@jersey.police.je.