PCC backs national campaign to prevent homicide this winter.

Police and Crime Commissioner Joy Allen has today offered her full support to a new national campaign to prevent homicide this winter.

The County Durham and Darlington PCC is backing the Home Office’s Winter Homicide Prevention Initiative which runs over the next six weeks as part of a national effort to drive down homicides associated with the Night-Time Economy (NTE) over the festive period.

The scheme will see forces across England and Wales intensifying operational police activity in the NTE to prevent homicide. This will coincide with a national public awareness campaign empowering men to recognise early behaviours in themselves and their friends that have the potential to trigger violence while also promoting de-escalatory actions, bystander intervention and the benefits of ‘walking away’.

The Durham force area is one of the safest in the country with historically low numbers of homicides.

The PCC has been instrumental in bringing local partners together to tackle serious violence since her election, securing millions of pounds of extra government funding to address Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) and make public spaces safer for all.

Through the Home Office’s Safer Streets project, the Commissioner and partners funded a raft of interventions to make the NTE in Darlington Town Centre and Durham City as safe as possible. This included the deployment of taxi marshals to help people, especially women, get home safely, increased police patrols in the NTE, the recruitment and training of NTE workers as ‘Street Angels’, drug testing kits and new CCTV and upgraded street lighting. Meanwhile, a new safety hub, Number Forty, was funded in Darlington to provide a place of safety in the town centre aimed at people on a night out who feel vulnerable, unwell or have been a victim of crime with a further VAWG Safety Hub established in Durham City.

In the first six months of the Safer Streets project, VAWG offences during operational intervention times decreased, VAWG civil orders increased, and the number of VAWG crimes reported rose. Meanwhile, VAWG crimes as a proportion of all crime demand in Darlington saw an average reduction of six per cent.

In further work, the PCC has recently secured more than £311k to fund new joint approaches to understand the causes and consequences of serious violence as part of her responsibility to implement the government’s Serious Violence Duty. The funding will be invested in prevention and early intervention provision to divert young people from risk-taking behaviour that could escalate into serious violence.

In supporting the Home Office’s campaign, Commissioner Allen said: “I strongly support the Home Office’s Winter Homicide Prevention Initiative. There is no place for violence of any kind in our communities and I will be working with the force and our partners to ensure this message is driven home this Christmas.

“The force takes knife crime and violence extremely seriously. Fortunately, County Durham and Darlington is one of the safest areas in the country with historically low rates of homicide. However, it is important we keep it that way, which is why I have championed so many positive improvements to our NTE since my election. These interventions have struck a balance between increasing our policing presence and delivering tougher enforcement with behavioural change work to address violent culture. This has been supported with training for NTE staff, recognising we all have a shared responsibility for the safety of our public spaces.

“With Serious Violence Duty funding secured, we will be stepping up this work with new, evidence-based approaches that turn lives around and reduce the risk of young people being caught in the web of violence as either victims or perpetrators. Our communities are concerned about serious violence and want to see a stronger response and we are already taking action.”

Cllr Amanda Riley, Darlington Borough Council’s cabinet member for stronger communities, said: “We work closely with the PCC, Durham Police and other partners on a range of initiatives to help ensure Darlington is a safe place for everyone who lives, works and visits here, and we fully support the Home Office’s latest campaign.”

Safer People is a key priority in the Commissioner’s Police and Crime Plan.

In the past year, the force has been involved in two research programmes to share best practice as part of the Commissioner’s public health approach to reducing serious violence.

The Commissioner has also supported the launch of a regional Serious and Organised Crime (SOC) quarterly meeting with the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) and other partners to share best practice around prosecutions relating to SOC Offences.