Humberside Police given extra Government funding to tackle violent crime

Humberside Police has received Government funding to create a specialised Violence Reduction Unit (VRU).
The Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) for Humberside, Jonathan Evison, welcomed the funding, saying this would be the start of a long-term project.The Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) for Humberside, Jonathan Evison, welcomed the funding, saying this would be the start of a long-term project.
The Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) for Humberside, Jonathan Evison, welcomed the funding, saying this would be the start of a long-term project.

The Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) for Humberside, Jonathan Evison, welcomed the funding, saying this would be the start of a long-term project.

The Home Office announced today that the Humberside policing area will join 19 other regions by establishing a VRU to identify the causes of violent crime and lead the local response to reducing violence through targeted interventions and education.

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The VRU will be a partnership between the PCC, Humberside Police, the four local authorities, local NHS, the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities, and Youth Offending Teams working closely with young people, community groups and education providers.

They will be required to collaborate to create intervention programmes to work with people who may be at risk of offending and existing offenders to cut violent crime, reduce the number of victims and create safer communities.

Police and Crime Commissioner Jonathan Evison said: “This announcement marks the start of what will become a long-term project to tackle and prevent violent crime in our communities.

“The Humber region does not experience the levels of serious violence seen elsewhere in the country such as knife or gun crime, but we do have violence disproportionately affecting women and girls and a national trend which has seen violence steadily increase over recent years means we should not be complacent and this is not an issue which can be solved by police enforcement alone.

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“The first step is to bring together all the organisations required to be involved and work together to develop a proposal to share information in order to identify vulnerable children and young adults at risk and help steer them away from a life of crime and violence.”

Humberside Police Chief Constable Lee Freeman said: “The force has recently benefited from Grip funding of more than £390,000 to establish a hotspot policing trial across the region.

“This hyper-targeted police operation has enabled us to increase patrols in more than 100 hotspot locations across the region, with a view to driving down crime in those areas.

“The pilot has enabled us to complete an additional 1,700 hours of policing on top of our usual policing and it is having a positive impact.

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“We’ve seen an overall reduction in crime, better detection rates and positive outcomes for victims. Most importantly, it has given us the chance to re-connect with our communities on a personal level.”