PCC secures extra £1m for ‘hotspot’ policing patrols to boost crackdown on serious violence and ASB

Police and Crime Commissioner Joy Allen has secured an extra £1m to step up visible ‘hotspot’ patrols to tackle serious violence, knife crime and anti-social behaviour.

The extra patrols will be targeted in locations which have the highest prevalence of knife crime, serious violence and ASB to deter crime and ensure communities feel confident and safer.

The funding, which comes in addition to the £1m granted last year, will deliver at least 900,000 hours of patrols by police, Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs) and other visible uniformed presence over the next 12 months.

Latest figures show that between January and March this year, more than 3,626 hours of additional patrols were carried out across the force area. These resulted in 23 arrests, five stop and searches, 42 informal warnings and several civil orders, penalty notices and dispersal notices.

One in four (25%) residents placed policing visibility as a top priority in the PCC’s recent consultation, and she has pledged to increase the presence of officers to prevent crime and protect County Durham and Darlington’s communities.

Under the Safer Neighbourhoods strand of her new Police, Crime and Justice Plan, the PCC has vowed to identify and tackle ASB hotspots including those where vehicles are being used illegally.

In further action promised under her Safer People Safer Places theme, the PCC outlined her commitment to develop problem-solving approaches to crack down on knife crime and deliver on her statutory duty to prevent and tackle the causes and impact of serious violence.

Welcoming the confirmation of funding, Commissioner Joy Allen said: “This is a significant amount of extra funding that will provide visible and ongoing policing activity over the next 12 months in areas prone to serious violence and ASB. It is part of a whole suite of measures being employed to drive these crimes out of our neighbourhoods and provide respite to residents and businesses.

“Police visibility is a top priority for one in four residents locally and nowhere is the presence of extra uniformed enforcement more welcomed than in communities that are enduring long-running problems.

“ASB and serious violence have a profound and far-reaching impact on individuals and communities. As we’ve seen previously, targeted patrols not only help to deter crime and bring those accountable for problems to justice they also have an immeasurable benefit on mental wellbeing and confidence. They also – in many cases – put offenders on the right track to rehabilitation, connecting them with services that can help address the roots of their problems, especially where alcohol or drugs are concerned.

“This funding will allow us to build on what is already a successful partnership approach to serious violence and ASB and reinforce our zero-tolerance stance against any behaviour that threatens our communities or increases fear.”

Serious violence accounts for 13% of all crime within the force area and is concentrated within urban centres notably Durham City and Darlington Town Centre.

The Hotspot response involves the targeting of resources and activities to those places where crime is most concentrated and is based on the premise that crime and disorder is not evenly spread within neighbourhoods but clustered in small locations.

Focusing resources and activities in hotspots aims to prevent crime in these specific areas and potentially, reduce overall crime levels in the wider geographic area.

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