Serious violence
We are working in partnership across Derby and Derbyshire to prevent and reduce serious violence - this includes some of the most serious types of crime, such as knife crime, possession of weapons, and serious injuries and death caused by acts of violence.
Serious violence destroys lives and has a devastating impact on families and communities. Our vision is that Derby and Derbyshire are places where people can live, work and visit without the fear or experience of serious violence and our mission is to make our area safer together by reducing the instances, severity and impact of violence on individuals, families and communities.
Legislation
The Government introduced its Serious Violence Strategy in 2018, and since then focused work has been taking place across the Country to reduce and prevent serious violence. In 2023, the Serious Violence Duty was introduced as part of the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022. With this came funding from the Home Office to tackle serious violence in Derby and Derbyshire. Some of the funding has been used to create a Derby and Derbyshire Violence Reduction Unit (VRU) and some of it has been used to put interventions in place across the City and County to prevent and reduce serious violence.
In 2023 Strategic Needs Assessments were completed for Derby and Derbyshire which helped us to understand what our issues are with serious violence, where it happens, who is committing it and when, and importantly, why people become involved in serious violence. Derbyshires Strategic Needs Assessment is available to view at Derbyshire Observatory.
Our approach
We are taking a Public Health approach to tackling serious violence in our area. This approach requires us to work in partnership to understand the drivers and risk factors (the causes) for involvement in serious violence and think about how we can work together to remove these to help people lead a life away from serious violence – at the same time increasing the protective factors that can help people to do this.
We are working with people before they ever become involved in crime – to educate and steer them away from involvement in any type of crime that could later lead to involvement in serious violence. In addition, we are also working with people who are on the cusp of involvement in crime to divert them away from it, and we are working with people who have already committed crime, to change behaviours and prevent re-offending.
Our work with operational and tactical teams, and our use of data, can help to identify people who are vulnerable or at risk of involvement in serious violence, and we can then use appropriate interventions to address the underlying causes of involvement in serious violence.
Derby and Derbyshire Serious Violence Board
We work in partnership with several organisations across Derby and Derbyshire, taking a multi-agency approach to tackling to serious violence in our area. Derbyshire County Council’s Community Safety Unit works with Public Health, Derby City Council, the Police, Fire and Rescue Service, Probation Service, Youth Justice Services, Integrated Care Boards (Health), Education, the Prison Service and local Community Safety Partnerships, as well as the community and voluntary sector. These organisations form the Derby and Derbyshire Serious Violence Board, which is a strategic Board that meets quarterly to collectively discuss and agree Derby and Derbyshire’s response to the Serious Violence Duty.
Our first Serious Violence Strategy for 2024-26 has been published, outlining our vision, mission, principles, and priorities for tackling serious violence in Derby and Derbyshire.
Links to other crime types and behaviours
We recognise that work to prevent and reduce serious violence is cross-cutting with a number of other crime types and work that is happening in the City and County to prevent and reduce crime in its broadest sense.
We link closely with other partners / agencies who are working to prevent and reduce:
- domestic abuse
- sexual abuse and sexual violence
- extremism and terrorism
- violence against women and girls
- modern slavery
- exploitation, serious organised crime and county lines
- drug and alcohol misuse
- online harms
- anti-social behaviour and neighbourhood crime
- hate crime
Involvement in any of these crime types or behaviours can be a risk factor for involvement in serious violence, and so it is important that we work across this broad spectrum to help us understand the drivers and risk factors and the important work already taking place in each of these areas.