Why should they?

Criminals benefit from the misery of others - why should they? They flaunt the proceeds of their crimes - why should they? They live the life of luxury at your expense - why should they?

Using the Proceeds of Crime Act (POCA), criminals can have their illegal earnings and possessions including cash, property, cars or anything else of value taken away.  Through the courts, a judge can make an order, which states a total value of a person’s crimes must be paid back, using their assets.

Once they have been convicted of a crime, using the Proceeds of Crime Act police and partners can ensure they do not benefit from their assets once they have served their sentence.

The Why Should They? Campaign aims to raise awareness of what action can be taken against criminals to hit them where it hurts – their wallets and encourages people to identify these criminals in their communities and make law enforcement aware through Crimestoppers who are part of this initiative.

In the financial year 2008 – 2009 South Yorkshire Police removed £3.969.529 from the criminal economy, using the power of forfeiture and confiscation provided by POCA.  A proportion of this money has been given back to police in Sheffield to invest into local community projects.  

Twenty local projects and charities across the city will reap the rewards, all receiving a share of £44,000.  One of the projects to benefit from a share of the cash is Aspire Amateur Boxing Club. The boxing gym, based at Darnall, helps anyone aged 10-years-old and over (male and female) to stay away from crime and into something positive. It also offers life and social skills training. The club will receive £7,000 from POCA money to buy new equipment and help members of the club travel the country and go abroad to participate in amateur boxing events.

 DCI Sean Middleton, Crime Support Manager for South Yorkshire Police (SYP) Sheffield District, said: “SYPbelieves that criminals should not profit from their crimes.

“Some of the money that the boxing club is to receive has come from assets confiscated from a Darnall resident Mohammed Razwan who was convicted of stealing motor vehicles and changing the identity of those vehicles to sell on. He was sentenced to two years imprisonment for the offence and is now serving a further two years for not paying his confiscation order in full. When he has served his time, he will still owe the money.

“We have a team of specially trained detectives who make it their business to put criminals out of business with the information you can provide.  Why should they be allowed to live off the proceeds of crime, the message is simple: crime does not pay.”

Ronny Tucker who runs the Aspire Boxing Club said:” We really appreciate the money from South Yorkshire Police. The cash will help buy new equipment for the club and pay for a group of young boxers to fly out to Germany in April and participate in a boxing competition. This is a fantastic opportunity; some of these young people have never been on an aeroplane before.  The money will also help to promote the club and to encourage more young people to take up boxing”.

If you know of anybody in your community who is profiting from crime call SYP on 0114 2202020 or call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111, that's all it takes.

The Why Should They? Campaign is run by your local Criminal Justice Board and supported by local police.

There are other criminals within your communities living off the proceeds of crime. Why Should They? For further details visitwww.whyshouldthey.com