A new multi-million pound taskforce has been launched to tackle
violent crime across Greater Manchester.
The Violence Reduction Unit brings together Greater Manchester
Police, National Probation Service, health and education
professionals, youth justice and local authorities to address the
underlying causes of violent crime and work together with
communities to prevent it.
It forms part of Greater Manchester’s approach to tackling
serious violent crime, which includes making sure victims of
violent crime get the right support, and improving the criminal
justice response to all forms of serious violence.
The launch of the unit comes as recent figures show that
knife-related crime is starting to come down. Statistics show
there were 229 reported crimes involving a knife or sharp
instrument in June 2019 - the lowest in twelve months.
The work of the unit will include working with schools to
increase awareness of the consequences of getting involved in
violent crime, identifying and working with young people at risk
of violent crime, and developing a community-led approach to
prevention and early intervention.
Police officers will also carry out targeted activity on
transport routes, in town and city centres, hospital emergency
departments, and test purchase operations will be carried out to
tackle the illegal purchase of weapons.
Deputy Mayor of Greater Manchester Bev Hughes said: “Violent
crime causes serious harm and blights the lives of victims,
families and communities. We are committed, not only to strong
enforcement against violent crime, but also to trying to prevent
it happening.
“The work of this new unit will strengthen the good work already
happening within our communities, bringing together police, local
authorities, youth services, health, education and schools, as
well as other criminal justice partners, to embed a community-led
approach to prevention and enforcement.”
The unit is also working with Manchester Metropolitan University
academics to build a more comprehensive picture of violent crime
across Greater Manchester and get a better understanding of the
causes and how to prevent it.
Deputy Mayor Bev Hughes added: “Crucially, by working with
families, communities and young people we can understand and
address the reasons how and why people, particularly young
people, can get drawn into violent crime. If we can turn young
people away from violence at the earliest possible opportunity we
can make a real difference to them and our communities.”
Jon Rouse, chief officer of Greater Manchester Health and Social
Care Partnership, said: “We need to treat violence as a public
health problem as well as a crime problem, identifying and
tackling the underlying causes.
“NHS services have a key role in reducing violence by providing
the support people need if they face mental health difficulties,
or if they abuse drugs and alcohol.
“However, we will make the biggest difference in the long term by
ensuring children develop well and learn good relationships and
social empathy.”
Superintendent Chris Downey of Greater Manchester Police said:
“The creation of a Greater Manchester-wide violence reduction
unit is a fantastic opportunity to build on our successful
partnership working and problem-solving responses across Greater
Manchester.
“Teamwork is required to address the causes of violent crime, and
this will come through partnerships with GMP officers, youth
services, education and more. The key to this is the sharing of
information and working together with communities to decide the
right way forward. For many that will be about enforcement and
prosecution. For many that is going to be interventions and
diversions. It requires each of us to ask ourselves ‘what is the
cause and what do we have to do to prevent it?’. In most cases,
the answer does not sit solely with the police, hence the need
for us to work together with local partners.”
The Violence Reduction Unit is being funded through the Home
Office Serious Violence Fund, which was announced earlier this
year. Greater Manchester has been allocated around £8m to tackle
serious violence, which includes £3.37m to establish the Violence
Reduction Unit and £4.8m to increase the police response to
violent crime. This has included targeted patrols, weapon sweeps
in key areas, and increased enforcement activity across the
city-region, which has already resulted in a number of arrests
and weapons, seized.
