MORE than £700,000 will go towards tackling serious violent crime on specific streets across the Thames Valley.

‘Hotspot’ areas will be targeted with the new government funding, which was used previously to carry out high visibility patrols, weapons sweeps and police operations against suspected carriers of weapons.

Now known as the ‘grip’ fund, the cash will allow similar policing activity to take place in these areas as well as more intelligence-led policing, use of stop and search and more patrols.

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Matthew Barber, Police and Crime Commissioner for the Thames Valley, said: “Tackling serious violence and knife crime remains a priority for the police, our partners and the communities we serve.

“I welcome the continued government investment in the Thames Valley Violence Reduction Unit, which is leading the way with its public health approach to tackling the root causes of violence.

“This latest funding will allow it to continue to deliver early intervention and prevention programmes, while the additional resourcing for operational policing activity allows us to increase focused enforcement in those areas that are most at risk of serious violence.”

In addition to the £735,000 allocated for the ‘grip’ fund, a further £1.16 million has been awarded to Thames Valley’s violence reduction unit to focus on tackling the root causes of crime.

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This money will be used for developing preventative measures, such as:

  • Identifying why some people get drawn into serious violence and knife crime
  • Working to protect the vulnerable
  • Developing new early intervention programmes
  • Tackling county drug lines to halt violence and exploitation
  • Developing new approaches to sharing information with other agencies
  • Developing new approaches to support people with trauma

Stan Gilmour, the Director of the Thames Valley Violence Reduction Unit, said: “After only our second year of operation we are seeing some strong results, with knife crime down 11 per cent year-on-year.

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“This comes from working across all partners, not just policing, as together we seek to address the factors that cause violence in the first place.

“We are looking ahead, just a year to go until the Serious Violence Duty passes into law and we will use this latest funding to coordinate activity across local partners to ensure we are ready.”