£225,000 programme to prevent young people from becoming involved in violent crime
More than 2,000 vulnerable young people are to receive specialist support as part of a £225,000 scheme in order to prevent them from becoming involved in violent crime.
The new programme, which is being funded by the region’s Violence Reduction Unit (VRU), will invite young people, who are thought to be vulnerable, to take part in sports or other physical activities.
The initiative is in response to rising knife crime – which has more than doubled since 2012 from 1,566 incidents to 3,579 by the end of 2019.
The VRU was launched by the West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner and partners in October last year and is focusing on preventing violence or stopping it from reoccurring.
It is a multi-agency body which is encouraging partners to work together to reduce violence.
The unit is a partnership between many of the big public sector organisations in the region who have pledged to reduce violence using a Public Health approach.
The scheme is costing £225,000, just a tiny fraction of what is spent every year on police investigations following knife crimes in the region.
West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner David Jamieson, who oversees the unit, said: “Sadly there are far too many children living in our area who will go on to commit violent crime.
“In some cases those individuals had all the odds stacked against them from a very young age, whether that was because they grew up in a household with drink and drugs, domestic violence, or extreme poverty.
"I want the violence reduction unit to focus on protecting and nurturing individuals so they don’t choose the wrong road in life.”
