Tackling Violent Crime

In 2008 the Home Office published an Action Plan for Tackling Violence, setting out the Government's agenda to reduce the harm caused by violent crime. Much of the responsibility for delivering this work lies with local Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnerships (CDRPs) in England and Community Safety Partnerships in Wales. These are local, statutory partnerships responsible for tackling crime and anti-social behaviour. The NAO reported on the Home Office's efforts to tackle violence in a 2008, finding that more needed to be done to address barriers to effective multi-agency working at the local level. The NAO commissioned RAND Europe to facilitate a series of practitioner workshops across England, to further understand these local barriers. Findings from the workshops indicate that whilst tackling violence was on the agenda of all of the participating CDRPs, practitioners called for greater involvement and data sharing by health agencies — particularly accident and emergency departments. The importance of developing analytical capacity within CDRPs, in order to better understand the nature of violence, was stressed by workshop participants. The workshops suggest that CDRPs are increasingly realising the need to proactively manage and engage with the media, to address public misconceptions about the level and risk of violence in their communities. This report will be of interest to all those involved in the tackling violence agenda, including Government Ministers and policy makers, those working in Regional Government Offices, practitioners from criminal justice agencies, health services, local government and local councils.