Episode 6

Detective Inspector Lynda Coates is head of Hertfordshire Police’s Offender Management Team whose work is regarded as pioneering. She keeps a close eye on the county’s 200 most prolific offenders – a small number of criminals who commit the vast proportion of burglaries. Her job is to keep them away from crime. And her most powerful weapon is persuading them to wear a GPS ankle tag so she can track their every move and prevent them from committing crimes. Linda’s biggest challenge is turning around the criminals she’s known since they were kids. Linda acknowledges that they tread a fine line in deciding who should be put into prison and who should be given another chance, but points out that offenders can’t stay in prison for ever: “We need to continue to work with our most prolific offenders because if we don’t we’re going to have more victims and that’s the last thing anybody wants.” Lynda says managing offenders is like managing children, but at home she can enjoy a break from crime, playing with her two young children. “I know there are bad people out there but I don’t want to scare them”.