Fifteen years ago, at the tail end of Blairism, I was running things for the Home Office in Southwest England. We had well-funded schemes across the region to tackle ‘prolific and other priority offenders’ (PPOs) who were torturing communities with crime. It seems almost quaint in the present context to recall the enthusiasm and effectiveness of the five local constabularies on my patch to prosecute the ‘catch and convict’ strand of the strategy. Rates of reoffending plummeted. The aim was straightforward: make life impossible for those engaged in criminal impunity. Those determined criminals who committed disproportionate levels of burglaries and shoplifting were harried from the moment they left their front doors. The message was uncompromising – give up or get banged up.

These days we

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