What action is the Police and Crime Commissioner taking to address violence?

This is a major area of focus for the Commissioner, who has prioritised tackling violence for her term of office. Violence is one of the key priority areas within her Police and Crime Plan 2021-2025. The plan sets out a series of key strategic ambitions with a particular focus on preventing serious violence and on tackling violence against women and girls.   

Working with the Chief Constable, the Commissioner has established the £4M Serious Violence Prevention Programme which adopts a public-health approach to tackling violence. The programme seeks to break the cycle of violence by focusing on people under the age of 25 years old who are at risk of getting drawn into violence.   

Alongside this, the Commissioner continues to invest in both victim and perpetrator programmes to prevent future crimes and ensure that the needs of victims are understood and met. As Chair of the Local Criminal Justice Board, the Commissioner is also focused on securing improvements across the criminal justice system to bring more offenders to justice, provide meaningful rehabilitation of offenders and support victims throughout their journey.  

The actions being taken under the Police and Crime Plan are regularly reported to the Police and Crime Panel. The latest Violence Profile for Devon and Cornwall was submitted to the Panel in November 2022 and provides further information on some of the key initiatives and investments being made by the Commissioner.