Serious Violence Duty Response Strategy for Norfolk
Today the Norfolk Community Safety Partnership has published its Serious Violence Duty Response Strategy.
The Serious Violence Duty was introduced in January 2023 as part of the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act, which forms a key part of the Government policy to prevent and reduce serious violence. The Duty encourages taking a whole-system approach to understand the causes and consequences of serious violence, focussing on prevention and early intervention.
The Duty placed a statutory responsibility on a range of organisations to work together to generate the production and implementation of a local strategy, which outlines the collective action the partnership intends to take to prevent and reduce serious violence.
In response, the Norfolk Community Safety Partnership has developed this strategy and identified four priority areas:
- A focus on the safety of young people
- A focus on the prevention of domestic abuse
- A focus on the places and spaces most affected by serious violence
- A focus on drugs and alcohol as a driver of serious violence
Mark Stokes, Chair of the Norfolk Community Safety Partnership and CEO at the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner for Norfolk said: “This strategy builds on our existing strengths as partners in violence prevention. It recognises the brilliant work that is already happening in Norfolk, but also forms the basis for further development and co-production of our local response. Together we can build long-term sustainable approaches to violence prevention and reduction.”