Safer North Devon celebrates 10 Years of reducing crime and anti-social behaviour

Safer North Devon is this week (2-6 November) celebrating ten years of tackling crime and anti-social behaviour (ASB) across North Devon and Torridge as part of National ‘Not in My Neighbourhood Week’ - a Government run initiative to give local crime reduction agencies, police forces and partners an opportunity to highlight the work they do.

Safer North Devon Celebrates 10 Years of Reducing Crime and Anti-Social Behaviour

Based at Barnstaple Police Station, Safer North Devon works jointly with eight other partner agencies* to tackle crime and anti-social behaviour including; alcohol and drug-related crime; anti-social behaviour; violent crime including domestic violence; prejudice and hate crime and youth crime. Over the last ten years Safer North Devon has secured grants from Government and external bodies of over £1.5 million pounds to deliver community safety projects locally through its partners.

“We have delivered an incredible number of projects over the last ten years to help make North Devon and Torridge a safer place to live, work and visit,” says Amanda Palmer, Safer North Devon Manager. “This week we want to celebrate our success by raising awareness of our work, how it benefits local communities and how we work with and challenge our partners to come up with the best solutions to solve local crime and anti-social behaviour concerns.”

Project highlights from the last ten years

Establishing the first dedicated Anti-Social Behaviour response team in Devon in 2003 This service came into effect immediately the Anti-Social Behaviour Act came into force and is now supported by specialists in key partner agencies including the police, councils and housing associations. The team ensures that the most appropriate resources are available to use in response to individual or neighbourhood anti-social behaviour.

Paving the way for one of the first fully funded Devon-wide drug and alcohol services

Providing the funds to support Criminal Justice and Community Alcohol Programmes since 2002/3 which have now evolved into a centrally funded Devon-wide drug and alcohol service provided by Addaction and Y-Smart. These two agencies have helped highlight the need for local services to prevent and reduce the harm associated with drug and alcohol use and they continue to bring new practices to Northern Devon first.

Securing an extra £64,000 in the last year alone (similar grants in earlier years) for capital expenditure items for local communities. This money has come from additional grant applications and allowed Safer North Devon to support local communities with the purchase of capital expenditure items such as buying vehicles, sports equipment, floodlighting, CCTV cameras (portable and static), graffiti removal machine, business and licensee radio schemes, computer equipment, supporting building projects, and much more.

Winning Sport England recognition for a unique project for vulnerable young people in North Devon Safer North Devon funded the GOYA (Get Off Your Arse!) project in 2002 working initially with small numbers of young people who were vulnerable and at risk of offending or repeat offending. This project now receives over £800,000 of Government funds each year, has expanded to cover other Devon districts and works with providing support and improving outcomes for young people most at risk of offending.

Supporting the development of a leading domestic violence service across Northern Devon Lobbying for increased funding and support for North Devon Womens Aid (NDWA), Safer North Devon helped the charity to develop services such as a children’s worker, educational input into schools, outreach into rural communities and supported Domestic Violence Awareness Week.

Safer North Devon supported NDWA with an expansion to their outreach centre with the assistance of a £25,000 capital grant from the Safer Devon Partnership. Domestic Violence Services in Devon continue to be some of the best in the UK with Northern Devon piloting new approaches and delivering services here first.

Monday, 23rd November 2009