UK Home Secretary Priti Patel has announced a multi-million-pound fund to help tackle violent crime.
£35 million is set to be split across 18 of the worst-affected areas in the country, helping specialist violence reduction units to continue confronting serious violent crime and offences. The Metropolitan Police area will receive around £7 million, while areas including Greater Manchester, the West Midlands and Merseyside will each get over £3 million, with other areas also receiving smaller amounts of funding.
The units are part of an initiative set up earlier in 2019 to bring police, local government, health and community leaders together in an effort to tackle violent crime and reduce it by focusing on its causes.
Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs) received £35 million in August to setup the units, and the announcement by Priti Patel sees the funding continued for the following year.
Announcing the funding, Priti Patel said;
“I will not tolerate criminals drawing vulnerable young people into a life of violence.
“We are delivering on the people’s priorities by recruiting 20,000 new police officers and introducing tougher sentences to keep offenders behind bars for longer, but agencies must also work together to tackle this issue head on.
“These units are already playing a vital role in diverting young people away from crime – and the funding I have announced today will allow them to continue this important work.”
In the year to March 2019, police in England and Wales recorded a total of 47,000 offences involving a knife or other sharp instrument.
