A new push to tackle violent crime will focus on preventing young people ever getting involved in criminality, rather than focusing on “mopping up the heartbreak” when they do.
That was the message from West Yorkshire Mayor Tracy Brabin when she launched the West Yorkshire Violence Reduction partnership at Kala Sangam in Bradford (16 July)
The partnership, which replaces the existing Violence Reduction Unit, aims to get more organisations, charities, and businesses working together to tackle crime before it happens by intervening in the lives of young people at risk of falling into a life of crime.
The launch followed in the wake of a series of violent incidents in West Yorkshire, including an incident in Bradford last weekend in which a young person was stabbed in the leg.
Ms Brabin said: “Today is a step forward to get better outcomes in tackling serious crime.
“The whole point of the partnership is prevention and early intervention. There is no point the police just mopping up the heartbreak and disaster; you have to get further upstream to prevent it from ever happening. You have to stop young people from ever getting involved in crime. We can’t arrest our way into making communities safer.”
She said in the past year £3.3m had been spent providing interventions to 14,000 young people in West Yorkshire.
Ms Brabin said the partnership spoke to young people, adding: “We’ve listened to their lived experience, and how they became either a victim of crime or a perpetrator.”
She said trauma was what often led most young people into offending, and that police were now trained to look at a young person’s background and any possible trauma if they are arrested.
Ms Brabin added: “Not every perpetrator wants to end up where they are. That trauma could be losing a parent, being made homeless, [or] being excluded from school. We need to make sure we are there for these young people to stop them falling through the net.”
She said the partnership would give charities and other groups that work with young people greater funding to continue their work.
Speaking to more than 100 people from different organisations at the event, she said: “We are all aware of the devastating impact of violent crime on victims, families and communities.
“There have recently been a couple of incidents in our community that are heartbreaking, and I give my condolences to the families and friends of those young people.
“These incidents leave lives devastated and families grieving. It tears communities apart and fuels fear.
“This partnership will show that violence is preventable – it isn’t inevitable.
“Crime is often a symptom of other complex needs, poverty, homelessness, poor mental health. The more we can do to support youngsters who deal with these issues the more likely it is we alter their journey into crime and violence.”
