Crime prevention efforts "paying off" in Cambridgeshire and Peterborough
Police and Crime Commissioner highlights work to tackle causes of offending before it starts
Efforts to stop crime before it happens are having a positive impact across Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, according to the area's Police and Crime Commissioner.
Darryl Preston has been updating members of the county's Police and Crime Panel in Peterborough on progress made over the last twelve months under his "Early Intervention and Prevention" plan, which focuses on tackling the root causes of offending.
Mr Preston says three hundred and twenty five young people aged twenty four and under were helped through national funding for the Serious Violence Reduction Programme, between April and June this year alone.
He said prevention is "better than cure", adding that intervening early can help stop people becoming victims of crime in the first place, as well as saving money for the justice system.
Among the projects highlighted were the Respect Programme, which supports families dealing with child-to-parent abuse, and the Safer Corridors Toolkit, developed with schools and young people to help spot and challenge harmful behaviour earlier.
Other work includes new approaches to tackling perpetrators of domestic abuse and stalking, trusted adult schemes and youth work to prevent serious violence, and Cambridge Crown Court being chosen as a pilot site for a scheme aimed at cutting reoffending.
The Commissioner also pointed to work tackling serious and organised crime, including events bringing agencies together to spot emerging threats, and more than one million pounds of funding being used to boost policing in crime hotspot areas across the county this year.
Mr Preston said tackling crime "cannot be delivered by police alone", and that strong partnership working across agencies, along with targeted investment, was key to reducing harm before it happens.