Fighting Violent Crime and High Harm

Over the next few weeks, I will be highlighting the significant work taking place in Dorset to tackle violent crime and knife crime. I will outline the ways I continue to support Dorset Police in dealing with these offences following investment in equipment including knife wands and a knife arch, as well as focusing on the progress my Office’s Violence Reduction and Prevention Team is making. I will also take the opportunity to shine a light on the charities and community organisations providing vital services and support to the public, alongside the targeted work police and our partners continue to do.

I know that knife crime is a topic which continues to hit the headlines, especially nationally, and that many people are rightly concerned about this subject. However, I want to be clear; in Dorset, we continue to have low rates of knife crime. We are one of the five forces with the lowest number of knife crime offences in the country and in the past year alone have seen a 9% drop in these offences. That by no means makes us complacent though and I want to assure you there is much significant work taking place to tackle these offences, whether that is by Dorset Police, or other partners. It is also important to say that the issue of violent crime including knife crime cannot be solved solely through policing. Partnership working with local authorities and other key organisations is vital. Tackling violent offences is not just down to enforcement, it does and must go much further than that.

A key part of my Police and Crime Plan focuses on Fighting Violent Crime and High Harm, with specific commitments dedicated to tackling violence. They include working with and holding partners to account for strategies and diversionary work to help prevent the escalation of violence. As I mentioned earlier, dealing with violent crime is not just down to the police - it needs all parts of the community and a number of statutory bodies to come together. This is why, since I became Police and Crime Commissioner in 2021, I have been lobbying and campaigning for Dorset to have a Violence Reduction Unit (VRU). While I will go into further detail about this and the progress made towards this over the next few weeks, a VRU would bring together partner agencies including local authorities, health, and education sectors to commission services to prevent serious violence in response to what is needed locally.

Also included as part of the commitment is the crucial work with partners to identify children and young people most at risk of being exploited to ensure adequate safeguards are put in place. This is alongside working with partner agencies to tackle knife crime, whether that is through effective prevention, intervention or tough enforcement.

Over the next few weeks, I hope to detail the breadth of the work and intense focus on dealing with violent crime and knife crime in our county. I know that residents want to see action being taken on knife crime; whether that’s through robust enforcement or education for young people and I agree it must be visible, transparent and effective. What I can say is that people can have confidence that we are all dedicated to tackling these offences and making our streets even safer for everyone who lives, works and visits Dorset. That is and will remain the priority for all involved in reducing these harmful crimes.

David Sidwick

Dorset Police and Crime Commissioner