In the North East there are a number of initiatives undertaken by the local community safety partnerships with the specific aim of reducing violent crime.
Violent crime – as it is recorded by the police – includes robbery, sexual offences and ‘Violence against the person’ offences, such as assault and murder. However, most recorded violent crime is low-level thuggery, while the UK has one of the lowest murder rates amongst the European Union, with London being below average for EU capital cities. Government Offices have an active role in the effort to continue bringing down the level of violent crime, which has fallen by 35 per cent since its peak in 1995.
More information on the national picture
In July 2007 the National Crime Strategy for 2008-11 was
published with new targets for improving community
safety, including Public Service Agreement 23 with which it seeks to
reduce the most serious violent crimes, including serious sexual
offences and domestic violence, as a priority.
In February 2008, the National Audit Office published two
reports related to tackling violent crime.
In the same month Saving Lives. Reducing Harm. Protecting the Public: An
action plan for tackling violence
2008-11 and
Implementation Guide to the Action Plan were
published.
In the North East there are a number of initiatives
undertaken by the community safety partnerships with the specific aim of
reducing violent crime.
Approximately, 46 per cent of all violent crime is
alcohol related and therefore reducing alcohol related harm is a key
priority for the North East. The Cardiff Violence Prevention Project
and subsequent research report demonstrated that hospital emergency
departments can contribute significantly to the prevention and
management of community violence.
Developing an Accident and Emergency Based Crime and
Disorder Reduction Partnership Performance Measure
(PDF 359 KB)
The Cardiff research encourages police forces and community safety
partnerships to work closely with the local hospital emergency departments,
to develop mechanisms for collating and sharing relevant
information.
Tackling Knives (Serious Youth Violence) Action
Plan. The Tackling Knives Action Programme (TKAP) was
launched in June 2008 and is an intensive programme committed to
take swift action to reduce incidents of death and serious violence among
teenagers.
In March 2010, an extra £5 million was put
towards tackling knife and serious youth violence and increase multi
agency action to deal with the minority of young people who commit serious
youth violence, regardless of the weapon used. This initiative
is targeted to young people in the 13 to 24 age group.
The
Youth
Crime Action Plan is an analysis of what is being
done to tackle youth crime. It sets out a ‘triple track’
approach of enforcement and punishment where behaviour is unacceptable,
non-negotiable support and challenge where it is most needed, and better
and earlier prevention.
For more information and statistics on violent crime in your area go to
CrimeMapper.
