Plans to make Medway towns safer get approval

Medway Council's Community Safety Partnership aims to make the streets of the Medway towns safer

Plans to draft in more plain-clothes police officers to step in and prevent assaults on women and girls on nights out in part of north Kent have been given the go ahead.

Medway Council has approved a new Community Safety Partnership (CSP) plan which sets out plans to reduce crime and disorder over three years.

The plan is an agreement between Medway Council, Kent Police, the Kent and Medway Integrated Care Board, the Probation Service, Kent Fire and Rescue Service, and other key stakeholders.

The report received cross-party support at a full council meeting on 18 July, where it was voted through unanimously, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

Reporting domestic violence

The CSP sets out to tackle anti-social behaviour, reduce re-offending, preventing violence against women and girls, and crack down on problems related to drugs and alcohol, Medway Council says.

To help prevent violence against women and girls, the plan will target known and potential offenders as well as improving support for victims.

Policing will also be more visible in town centres and other public spaces.

The CSP plan also has a focus on reducing domestic violence through providing education opportunities to better identify when it might be occurring and how to report it, a council spokesman said.

In order to tackle problems of drugs and alcohol Kent Police is to increase efforts to break up organised gangs, disrupting supply lines and support those at risk of falling into criminality.

To reduce reoffending the plan aims to increase the availability of Creating Future Opportunity Activity Hubs, where people leaving prison can build skills and take part in activities to build healthier, more stable, and fulfilling lives.