£100k bid to combat summer crime spike

Northumbria Police chief Kim McGuinness is spending £100,000 in a bid to cut crime and anti-social behaviour over the school holidays.

The Northumbria Police and Crime Commissioner’s Violence Reduction Unit aims to use the cash to combata summer crime spike by helping fund a series of activities for youngsters across the force area.

This includes resources to get young people involved in sport and educational sessions in South Tyneside and outreach work in Sunderland city centre supported by additional wardens and police officers.

Ms McGuinness, said: “Now that summer has arrived,we all want everyone to enjoy everything our region has to offer – especially now we are seeing some normality back in our lives.

"But, it’s so important to me that everyone feels safe and that support is readily available to those who need it. That’ s why my Violence Reduction Unit have provided additional resource throughout the summer, to engage with individuals at the earliest opportunity and prevent crime before it starts.” Assistant Chief Constable David Felton said: “We are committed to cutting violence and tack ling the underlying causes of repeat offending.

“Our collective approach to reducing serious violence is succeeding. Figures which show hospital admissions fell by eight per cent and 14 per cent year-onyear in 2019-20 and 2020-21 respectively.

“This shows that the important work we are doing with partners to protect our communities and prevent these types of incident is making a difference.”