Registered Sex Offenders’ experiences of risk assessments and home visits in England & Wales – can we expect the police to integrate “risk” with “desistance” practices?

In England and Wales, adult male registered sex offenders (RSOs) are risk assessed and managed using a tool known as Active Risk Management System (ARMS) and this risk assessment is carried out by a specialist group of police officers known as Management of Violent or Sexual Offenders (MOSOVO) at the RSO’s home, known as ‘the home visit’. This study aimed to examine a sample of RSOs’ views of the risk assessment and home visit process and to make recommendations to MOSOVO, based on RSOs’ views, to improve the risk assessment and home visit practice. Three police forces in England and Wales agreed to facilitate sampling of 10 RSOs who varied in their level of risk - namely, low, medium, high and very high. Semi-structured interviews were thematically analysed and three themes were developed: Waiting for the first home visit provoked feelings of anxiety and heightened levels of shame; the first home visit was ‘like a chat’ but not for the higher risk RSOs; and the property search and observations were non-invasive, but RSOs were not fully informed of the home visit. We discuss these experiences in light of the growing call for MOSOVOs to both manage risk and assist desistance

Registered sex offenders views of the risk assessment process using Active Risk Management System (ARMS)

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Briefing Paper on Police Management of Registered Sex Offenders

An explorative study on police management and risk assessment of registered sex offenders using the Active Risk Management System (ARMS) risk assessment tool. This study explores how police are trained to carry out this role, Police views of this role and risk assessment and also offenders views of the risk assessment and concluded with recommendations for improvemen

Police officer attitudes to the training and practicalities of Active Risk Management System (ARMS)

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Tensions between police training and practice for the risk assessment of registered sex offenders in England and Wales

In UK, police officers are specially trained to become Management of Sexual or Violent Offenders (MOSOVO) officers. MOSOVO officers risk assess Registered Sex Offenders during home visits. We aimed to examine the MOSOVO training and home visits, and determine whether there is an alignment between training and practice. Three police forces in UK participated. Firstly, the MOSOVO training course was observed at each force. Secondly, MOSOVO officers in each force recorded home visits over a two-week period; the authors randomly selected 12 recordings for analysis. Field notes and transcripts were analysed using thematic analysis. Four themes were developed: unspecialised trainers lead to distrust and disengagement; the training does not prepare officers for all types of home visit; tensions between standard police policies and MOSOVO role; police suspicion of RSOs influences home visit implementation. We provide recommendations to improve MOSOVO training and the home visit process