Violence reduction units will take a multi-agency approach,
bringing together police, local government, health,
community leaders and other key partners to tackle violent
crime and its underlying causes.
The cash is in addition to the recent £63.4 million surge
funding to forces across England and Wales that are worst
affected by serious violence and knife crime.
Violence reduction units will be responsible for
identifying the drivers of serious violence locally and
developing a coordinated response to tackle them.
Local areas across England and Wales are starting to take a
public health approach to prevent serious violence by
addressing the issues that cause violent behaviour in the
first place.
Home Secretary said:
Knife crime is taking too many young lives and it’s vital
that all parts of society work together to stop this
senseless bloodshed.
Violence reduction units will help do this - bringing
together police, local government, health professionals,
community leaders and other key partners to tackle the
root causes of serious violence.
National Police Chiefs’ Council Chair Martin Hewitt said:
I have consistently made the case that serious violence
on our streets is something the police cannot tackle
alone. Forces across the country are putting significant
effort into addressing the problem, and we are starting
to see some positive outcomes.
It is widely agreed that prevention must be the priority,
and evidence shows that violence reduction units work in
contributing to this effort. The extra funding being
provided to Police and Crime Commissioners is therefore
welcomed.
The additional investment comes from the £100 million
serious violence fund announced by the government in March
as part of its continued action to crack down on violent
crime.
The 18 local areas will set out plans demonstrating how
they will use their provisional allocation to build a
public health approach delivering both short and long-term
action ahead of being awarded the funding in the coming
weeks.
The Home Office will work closely with the violence
reduction units to assess how the funding is being used to
strengthen the response to serious violence.
Introducing new violence reduction units is part of the
government’s focus on early intervention, as set out in the
Serious Violence Strategy which was published in April last
year. In addition to the £22 million Early Intervention
Youth Fund, the government has recently launched a £200
million 10-year Youth Endowment Fund, which will identify
and support organisations with a proven track record of
diverting vulnerable young people away from violent crime.
The government has also made it easier for officers in
seven areas most affected by knife crime to use Section 60
stop and search powers. Section 60 powers allow the police
to search people in a designated area without suspicion,
where serious violence is anticipated.
A consultation on a new public health duty recently took
place and the results will be published in due course. The
new public health duty would mean a range of agencies such
as police, education and health partners, local
authorities, offender management, housing, youth and victim
services will have a new legal duty to take action to
prevent and tackle violent crime.
