Fighting Poverty, Fighting Crime Plan

Fighting Poverty. Fighting Crime

So in this plan, I set out your policing priorities, and how our region can work together on the wider issues. The first version of this plan was published last year, and was built around the big issues the public told me about in a detailed consultation process, from tackling anti-social behaviour to helping women and others suffering the horrors of domestic abuse.

The public have overwhelmingly endorsed the key priorities from 2021, and as such, this Police and Crime Plan will continue with largely the same strategic focus as before. You’ll see your force fighting crime and continuing to invest in neighbourhood policing, just as before.

Alongside that, my office will also bring a new focus to public transport safety, and increase our efforts to rehabilitate offenders through access to employment.

Our part of the North East is a relatively safe one, and I believe this plan will ensure Northumbria Police continue to work hard on that record.

To view the plan, click HERE

Why the ‘Fighting Poverty’ approach?

• As any police officer here will tell you, we cannot simply arrest our way out of trouble – we have to take things right back to the very beginning.
• While criminals are likely to come from poorer backgrounds, this is not to say people who are poor are likely to be criminals. It does, however, make you more likely to be a victim of crime.
• There is clear evidence – the poor are by far most likely to be affected by crime. Those on lower incomes are six times more likely to be a victim of domestic abuse, three times more likely to be robbed, twice as likely to suffer violence.  Nobody deserves to be the victim of crime.

Operation Payback

To kick-start the new approach to tackling crime, PCC Kim McGuinness is awarding £130,000 of cash to a range of community causes through the first round of her Operation Payback 2022 scheme. The scheme uses cash seized from criminals to fund meaningful grass roots initiatives, improve local lives and repair the harm caused to communities by crime. For a full list of beneficiaries, click Operation Payback Round 2 – List of Funded Groups.

What others say…

Bridget Phillipson, Shadow Secretary for Education, welcomed the new focus on early intervention and its role.  “I believe education is how we secure the best life for every one of us, supporting children across our country to achieve and thrive. Life should not come down to luck.  But too many of our children grow up in poverty, too many kids don’t get the support they need at school, and too often that means storing up problems for adult life.”

Lambton Youth Centre manager, Kevin Howard, said: “Tackling poverty and investing in our young people is paramount. Many youth centres are struggling or have closed over the years due to the lack of funding and government cuts. This has resulted in increased youth crime and anti-social behaviour. Youth Centres are safe environments for young people. They learn standards, life values – skills that will enhance personal and social development, guidance and support to achieve their aspirations. Young people will never go out of fashion they will always be there, always be our future. How that turns out will depend how seriously we take them and the opportunities we as society present to them.”