Strategy to create safer communities endorsed

The draft strategy was presented to full council this week and is due to be formally launched on 6 October

A strategy designed to further enhance community safety and improve quality of life in Wolverhampton has been backed by a council.

The Safer Wolverhampton Partnership Strategy features five themes - public place violence, anti-social behaviour, safety of women and girls, alcohol and substance-related crime and neighbourhood crime.

It would be delivered through an action plan that would be refreshed every year to ensure it adapted to any new crime trends and emerging local challenges, the City of Wolverhampton Council said.

The draft strategy was presented to full council this week and is due to be formally launched on 6 October.

The strategy featured priorities across the five themes agreed by key stakeholders from across the city, the authority said.

They included using intelligence to identify hot spot areas in connection with public place violence, while expanding prevention measures and "pursuing robust enforcement where necessary" were among aims in terms of anti-social behaviour.

Improving public spaces and educating young people on healthy behaviours were part of plans over the safety of women and girls. Measures related to alcohol and substance-related crime included disrupting supply chains.

'Significant work'

Robbery, burglary and theft would be addressed through community vigilance, education and coordinated policing.

The draft strategy also reflected on achievements, the council said.

In the past year, reported crime has fallen by 9.5%, with "marked declines in serious youth violence, domestic abuse, theft, robbery and burglary, anti-social behaviour and adult reoffending rates".

There has also been "significant work" to prevent serious youth violence by investing in programmes in schools and the community.

Establishing a new Public Space Protection Order in the city centre last summer "has helped bring about a 16% reduction in recorded crime within its perimeter, including a 50% drop in the number of robberies".

The strategy was endorsed by the full council on Wednesday night.

The authority said the Safer Wolverhampton Partnership was the statutory community safety partnership and local police and crime board in Wolverhampton.