Early Intervention and Prevention
I am a firm believer that prevention is better than cure and recognise that the best way to support communities is to prevent crime from happening in the first place.
My priorities are:
- Supporting early intervention
- Preventing and reducing serious violence
- Preventing violence against women and girls
- Enabling and empowering communities
- Keeping communities safe
- Building resilience to cybercrime and fraud
- Preventing future victims of crime
- Tackling serious crimes
- Breaking the cycle of reoffending
Serious Violence
The Serious Violence Duty, launched in January 2023, places a legal requirement on authorities such as the police, justice partners, the Fire and Rescue Service, the local authority, and health to work together to prevent and reduce serious violence in our communities.
The Duty requires organisations to collaborate, share information and identify the type of serious violence occurring in our local areas, the causes of that violence (so far as it is possible to do so), and to implement a local strategy for how to prevent and reduce serious violence. The local strategy for Cambridgeshire and Peterborough is available here: Serious Violence Partnership Strategy - January 2025.
By taking a multi-agency approach, it enables agencies to target interventions according to what is needed in local areas.
Although the Police and Crime Commissioner is not a duty holder, he acts as the local convener for the Duty, administers national grant funding, and is responsible for monitoring progress. He also holds partners to account for their compliance and delivery.
As part of the Serious Violence Duty, the Commissioner is committed to engaging with young people to better understand their concerns about the communities they live in.
Through commissioning a 'Serious Violence Youth Listening Project', more than 1,700 young people (aged 11 to 18) across the county were asked how safe they feel in their local areas and how this can be improved. Insights from this project informed work in this area.
Drugs and Alcohol
The three strategic priorities set out in the national From Harm to Hope drug strategy are:
- Breaking drugs supply chains
- Delivering a world class treatment and recovery system
- Achieving a generational shift in the demand for drugs
The Combating Drugs Partnership (CDP), developed in 2022, is the local delivery mechanism for the national priorities, making them live and appropriate for Cambridgeshire and Peterborough. The Commissioner is the Senior Responsible Owner (SRO) for the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough CDP.
The 2024 CDP Annual Report can be read here: Cambridgeshire & Peterborough Combating Drugs Partnership 2024 Annual Report
Support for Businesses Against Cyber Crime
The Eastern Cyber Resilience Centre (ECRC) supports and helps protect local businesses, supply chain businesses and third sector organisations in the East of England against cybercrime. Visit the website for more details: Cyber Security & Resilience Consulting Company (ecrcentre.co.uk)