Police and Crime Commissioner Darryl Preston has secured £1m from the Home Office to fund a raft of improvement projects to prevent crime and anti-social behaviour.

Safety training for day/night-time economy workers and taxi drivers to identify predatory behaviour, specialist posts to root out nuisance behaviour,

state-of-the-art CCTV and free home security upgrades are just some of the interventions planned thanks to a successful bid to the Safer Streets 5 Fund.

The Commissioner drafted the successful proposal with local authority partners after consulting with other agencies across the county. The money which has been allocated from a national pot worth over £42m will be invested in a host of projects benefitting Cambridge City, Peterborough, Huntingdon, St Neots and Wisbech over an 18-month period starting in October 2023.  

Darryl said: “This is fantastic news for our communities. It means we can do so much more to tackle neighbourhood crime, violence against women and girls (VAWG) and anti-social behaviour (ASB).

“Crime Prevention is a key pillar in my Police and Crime Plan. Working with the Constabulary and partners, we are making important progress to create safer public spaces for everyone to enjoy, robustly tackling violence against women and girls and building more resilient communities.”

“I know how distressing these crimes can be and the emotional toil they bring on their victims.”

The Commissioner, working with local authority partners, submitted a successful proposal to the Safer Streets 5 Fund and has been allocated £1m to maximise public safety and reduce the risk of crime.

In Peterborough, the funding will provide a package of proven interventions to prevent burglary and reduce repeat victimisation while in Cambridge, it will expand work to protect women and girls from violence. In St Neots, Huntingdon and Wisbech, the interventions will focus on preventing and curbing ASB. 

Superintendent Adam Gallop (South Area Commander) added: “This is great news for Cambridgeshire and Peterborough and builds on much of the work delivered through previous safer streets initiatives. The funding means we can do so much more to keep our communities safe.”

Among the planned projects are:

Peterborough

• Free security upgrades and personal security reviews for new victims of burglary and those who have fallen victim in the past six months. Delivered by the Bobby Scheme, the project will pay for Ring Doorbells, window and door locks, lighting and gating between properties for eligible homeowners.
• A Community Resilience Officer to work with Neighbourhood Watch to issue Burglary Packs containing timer light switches and property marking kits. Residents will also be offered crime prevention advice.
• The launch of a new Neighbourhood Watch initiative to build community resilience.
• The launch of an intergenerational project offering young people the chance to volunteer in their communities with activities such as tidying gardens and clearing at communal areas.
• Three extra CCTV cameras for the area and extra staffing deployed to the CCTV Control Room to monitor them.

St. Neots, Huntingdon and Wisbech

• Six extra CCTV cameras (two in each area) to deter offending and provide evidence and intelligence to police.
• Additional monitoring in the CCTV Control Room to support policing operations.
• New lighting in an alleyway leading to Market Square from Priory Lane in St Neots which has attracted ASB problems.
• Two new, full-time posts - Community Engagement and Resilience Officers - to link with the community, listen to community concerns and develop joint solutions. The roles will work alongside the two Community Safety Partnerships and their problem-solving teams to identity problems and prioritise action.

Cambridge

• A ground-breaking project offering up to 1,000 staff from the day and night-time economy and bus drivers training to spot the signs of predatory behaviour.
• The deployment of Open Space Guardians and Taxi Marshalls working on key evenings across the 18 months to deter and prevent crime and increase feelings of safety in the city.
• Additional lighting, CCTV cameras and educational work with young people in schools as part of a project developed by Cambridge City Council, the Constabulary, Cambridge Business Against Crime and Cambridge Rape Crisis.