Police and Crime Commissioner Rupert Matthews has secured almost £1m of extra Home Office funding to get tough on ASB, Neighbourhood Crime and Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG).
In August the Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland PCC submitted three detailed proposals to the Home Office’s Safer Streets 5 Fund. Now the go-ahead has been granted, he will work with Leicestershire police and local authority partners to tackle priority areas of public concern.
Securing a total grant of nearly £961k, the funding will be invested in a raft of safety schemes to protect local people from the crimes that cause them most concern and impact how safe they feel.
State-of-the-art CCTV, improved lighting, educational outreach work, ASB training for professionals, property marking and the production of VAWG awareness resources for children and young people are just some of the interventions planned through the scheme.
The improvements, which will be implemented over an 18-month period between October 1 2023 and 31 March 2025, will support the PCC’s Police and Crime Plan commitment to prevent crime.
Mr Matthews said: “This funding is fantastic news for our communities. It will make a huge difference to public confidence and help strengthen our neighbourhoods and make them more resilient to the threat of crime.
“Too many people live in fear from intimidation, drug crime and nuisance behaviour on their streets. This is unacceptable and must end now.
“These projects will build on the work I am already doing to empower local people to reclaim their communities and take a stand against the crimes that bring misery to their lives.
“It will also increase the protection of women and girls and send a clear message that we take the issue of violence and predatory behaviour extremely seriously.
“Nothing can be achieved by one agency alone. Partnership working is at the heart of these plans and together we will not only increase the opportunities for offenders to be caught and brought before the courts we will also tackle the source of this offending to prevent more young people being drawn to behaviour that could escalate in the future into serious crime.”
The project will be boosted with matched funding by the PCC and local authority partners to maximise the impact of the interventions and to sustain improvements into the future.
Highlights from the planned projects include:
Melton Town Centre
· Improved lighting and extra CCTV to tackle ASB
· Educational outreach work with young people at risk of engaging in ASB
· Training for officers involved in responding to ASB
Oadby and Wigston
· Property marking to tackle neighbourhood crime
· Improved security
· Additional CCTV and improved lighting
VAWG
· Focus groups with children and young people from Charnwood, Hinckley and Bosworth and East and West Leicester to improve understanding of VAWG and dating/relationship violence.
· Development of age-appropriate resources and activities to be used by schools, youth/community groups and sports clubs across LLR to improve awareness of dating and relationship violence and how to report incidents/seek help.
· Development of a bystander programme designed by children and young people to empower peer groups to safely challenge and take action if they witness or hear sexual, dating or relationship violence. Community groups and sports clubs in Charnwood, Hinckley & Bosworth, West and East Leicester to be prioritised.
