Nine out of ten victims of crime bounced back after help from specialist support services in Nottinghamshire.
Around 20,000 people were referred into victim services funded by the Police and Crime Commissioner in the last year, including Nottinghamshire Victim CARE.
Of those who received enhanced support from these services, 90% said they were better able to cope with everyday life or recover from harm after receiving this support – an increase of 8% on the previous year.
Nottinghamshire Victim CARE offers practical support and advice to victims of crime and antisocial behaviour. This includes emotional support, advocacy with other agencies, advice on improving security and general crime prevention, or support applying for Criminal Injuries Compensation.
The success of support services in providing that much-needed help to victims in Nottinghamshire is among a number of highlights outlined in Police and Crime Commissioner Caroline Henry’s Annual Report for 2022-23, which will be presented to the Police and Crime Panel on Monday 25 September.
Commissioner Henry, whose role includes funding and priority setting for Nottinghamshire Police and holding the force to account on behalf of the public, as well as funding external services to prevent crime and support victims, will present the report.
“Over the last year there have been some incredible success stories in our efforts to prevent and respond to crime and antisocial behaviour and support victims and survivors,” said Commissioner Henry.
“The success of Nottinghamshire Victim CARE and the other victim services that we fund, in helping victims bounce back from the impact of crime, is something that I’m really proud of. I hope it shows the public that we’ve got their back whenever they have the misfortune to be affected by crime.
“Not only is Nottinghamshire Police successfully reducing crime, but we have a range of fantastic support services that help people recover from the after-effects of crime when they need help.
“I’d like to thank Catch 22 for all of the incredible work they have done running the Nottinghamshire Victim CARE service for us and we look forward to building on and expanding this service even further with our new service providers Remedi from October 1.
“The last year was a significant year in which I appointed a new Chief Constable, Kate Meynell, and I’m really pleased with the work she has done so far not only in preventing and responding to crime strengthening the force’s engagement with the community.
“There have been some challenges in recent times to the public confidence in policing nationally. But I believe the work that is happening locally will help to rebuild this trust.
“Recently, the tragic multiple homicide in Nottingham in June 2023 and the death in service of Sergeant Graham Saville in August 2023 sent shockwaves through the community. Both served as important reminders of the bravery, professionalism and sacrifice shown by our officers on a daily basis as they work to keep Nottinghamshire residents safe.”
Some of the other highlights of the annual report include some significant crime reductions – including how burglary has reduced by 35%, vehicle crime is down by 28%, robbery dropped by 21% and violence with injury fell by 9%, when compared to the 2019-20 Police and Crime Plan baseline.
Diversion and mentoring schemes funded by the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner and Violence Reduction Partnership supported over 2,800 children and young people in 2022-23. This led to improved resilience and wellbeing, increased self-esteem, and positive progression to education, training and employment. An increased focus on reducing school exclusions on top of this contributes to a reduced risk of reoffending.
The highly successful Operation Reacher model continued to operate across all 12 policing neighbourhood districts throughout 2022-23. This targeted local activity helped to achieve around 1,900 arrests, 380 warrants, 638 searches, the seizure of 632 vehicles 463 weapons, £998,000 in cash and 762 individual seizures of drugs in the year to March 2023.
The Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner also launched a new Antisocial Behaviour Task Force and a new Nottinghamshire Fraud Partnership, both of which involve multi-agency partners working together more efficiently and effectively to tackle these important issues.
More than £933,000 in criminal assets were recovered in 2022-23, marking an increase of 94% on the previous year and a 42% increase on the 2019-20 pre-Covid year. This is helping to ensure crime does not pay and a proportion of these funds are being reinvested in crime prevention.
To see a full copy of the annual report visit Annual Report (pcc.police.uk)
Posted on Monday 18th September 2023