Police to be given £30m to help tackle ‘underlying causes’ of violent crime

Money will fund early intervention programmes in hotspots in hope of preventing young people being drawn into crime, says Priti Patel

Police are to be given an extra £30m to target violent crime “hotspots” in a bid to crack down on murder, knife attacks and other serious offences.

Home secretary Priti Patel said the funding would help forces “tackle underlying causes” after senior police officers warned they had seen violent crime continue even during lockdown.

Some of the money will finance programmes which try to intervene in significant moments in the lives of young people, such as when they enter police custody or hospital.

“We are investing in new early intervention programmes to stop young people committing these crimes in the first place,” Ms Patel said.

Part of the funding will be targeted in the worst-affected areas of England and Wales, where police have seized more than 100,000 weapons in the last two years.  

The funding comes ahead of the introduction of a new major criminal justice bill, which will give police new stop and search powers to tackle known carriers of knives and other weapons.

It will also place a duty on public sector bodies, including the police and NHS agencies, to take a joined-up approach to reducing serious violence.

Ms Patel said she was “determined to cut crime” and make the country’s streets safer.

Assistant Chief Constable Jackie Sebire, who leads the National Police Chiefs’ Council’s work on serious violent crime, welcomed the new funding and said tackling the problem was a priority for forces.

She added: “Even during the pandemic we have seen serious street-based violence continue and particularly violence involving young people as both victims and perpetrators.”

The forces to receive a share of the £30m funding are London’s Metropolitan Police, West Midlands, Greater Manchester, Merseyside, West Yorkshire, South Yorkshire, Northumbria, Thames Valley, Lancashire, Essex, Avon and Somerset, Kent, Nottinghamshire, Leicestershire, Bedfordshire, Sussex, Hampshire, and South Wales.