Safer & Stronger Communities
Safer Communities
Introduction
One of the most frequently expressed concerns from the people of Devon , as in other areas of the country, is the desire to feel safe in their homes and communities. In terms of national crime and disorder figures Devon ranks as one of the safest places in the country to live. But this is not as it seems for many people.
For some crime is an issue that they have direct experience of and can undermine their well-being - domestic abuse and hate crime for example. Crime and disorder is also experienced more in some communities than in others both geographically and for some minority or isolated communities. It is crucial to the social, economic and psychological health of Devon 's communities that we do all we can to keep Devon safe and continue to reduce levels of crime.
The fear of crime is something everyone reasonably has, and is necessary so that we all take appropriate precautions to prevent ourselves becoming victims of crime - locking up our cars for example. Beyond this a fear of crime can be something that detrimentally impacts on some people's quality of life and well-being. Hence we need to find ways to re-assure the public about the real likelihood of personally experiencing crime and disorder.
Our approach to making Devon an even safer place to live is to work across all statutory and community agencies to develop strategies, action plans and services which effectively tackle these problems. We have developed our approach based on analysis of crime, the views expressed by the public about issues that concern them and local application of nationally recognised good practice. Our current priorities and brief descriptions of our actions are shown below.
Governance
The Safer Communities block of the Local Area Agreement (LAA) is governed by the Safer Devon Partnership (SDP). The SDP is made up of representatives from:
- Each Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnerships
- Police Partnership Superintendents or nominated representatives
- County Council representatives
- Drug and Alcohol Action Team
- Local Criminal Justice Board
- Fire Service Community Safety
- Youth Offending Service
- Other agencies and individuals on an invited basis who can contribute to the work of the Safer Devon Partnership
LAA Outcomes
The 2007-2008 LAA Outcomes are:
- Reduce Crime
- Reduce Domestic violence and abuse
- Reduce Alcohol and drug related crime and disorder
- Reduce Anti-social behaviour (and respond to government RESPECT agenda)
- Tackle Prejudice and hate related crime
- Reassure the public, reduce the fear of crime
See the Safer & Stronger Communities Table of Outcomes.
Block Lead Contact Details:
Roy Tomlinson
roy.tomlinson@devon.gov.uk
