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Office of the Bedfordshire Police and Crime Commissioner

PCC/D/110

KEY DECISION
POLICE AND CRIME COMMISSIONER FOR BEDFORDSHIRE


Title and Reference – PCC/D/110
Subject: Safer Streets 5 Home Office Bid
Report of: Police and Crime Commissioner
Date: 27/10/2023
Summary:
On 29 August 2023 the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner, on behalf of the Police and Crime Commissioner, submitted an application to the Home Office in respect of the Safer Streets 5 Fund.

The project is for an 18 month period and spans 2 financial years, the spending will be in 2 parts:

1st Oct 2023 – 31st Mar 2024
• ASB £160,170
• NC £191,166
• VAWG £113,664

1st Apr 20240- 31st Mar 2025
• ASB £108,830
• NC £214,824
• VAWG £211,336

The application covered:

ASBSmart water TaggingSmartTag is a handheld forensic identification spray.
A pressurised canister deploys a stream of SmartWater® traceable forensic liquid to tag an offender with a unique forensic code, assigned to an individual for their exclusive use. The SmartWater evidence can be used by the police to link the offender back to a specific criminal incident.
ASBLuton All Women’s Centre – Young People WorkersA targeted schools Educational programme which focusses on attitudinal/behavioural change and improving understanding of ASB and the impact this has.
*To include delivery of 1 hour ASB workshops
ASBDeployable CCTVTo supply deployable CCTV cameras and trailer mounted CCTV unit
ASBBedfordshire and Luton Community FoundationCreate a Communities small grants fund that would offer grant funding for projects to registered charities to address the issues across all three projects.
Based on past experience we will look to support projects that use arts, culture and heritage sectors to use creativity as a mechanism to understand why behaviour are formed and change attitudes and aspirations of those victims of crime or perpetrators of crime to change behaviours.
ASBCommunicationsTo raise awareness and reporting mechanisms of ASB via printed material and various digital media platforms
ASBTrail CCTV camerasSmall, camouflaged CCTV cameras designed to be motion sensitive to capture evidence of fly tipping and identify offenders
ASBMobile Speed Indicator DevicesProvide the watch co-ordinator the equipment to expand the speed watch scheme into the rural communities across Bedfordshire
NCSmart Water Burglary Reduction PackageSmartWater Burglary Reduction Package will be distributed to residents in Bedfordshire vis response officers, community officers, CSI’s and Bobby scheme  when they attend to either deal with a vulnerable victim or a victim of burglary and cocooning properties in close proximity of recent burglaries. They will be shown how to register the kits and given guidance on how to apply and register the kits .
NCSmartWater Business security packSmartWater Business security pack  will be distributed to farms and businesses in rural  Bedfordshire via response officers, community officers, CSI’s and Bobby scheme  when they attend to either deal with a vulnerable victim or a victim of theft . They will be shown how to register the kits and given guidance on how to apply the kits .
NCBedfordshire Watch schemesInvest in training of the various watch schemes throughout Bedfordshire and expansion to a rural watch scheme that will enable local residence to come together and form proactive groups providing a visible deterrent but also submitting intelligence to the force on any suspicious activity.
NCCESAR SchemeThe CESAR Scheme is the only official Police and Home Office approved plant and equipment registration scheme. The CESAR scheme was designed by Police Officers working in partnership with the Construction and Agricultural industries to provide Police on the street an easy simple and effective way to identify all manners of machinery and equipment. The new Home Office Document ‘Security Guidance Document’ for Agricultural and Construction Plant 64/09 specifically recommends all machinery be fitted with CESAR registration.
The primary aim of the CESAR scheme is to provide an easy way of identifying farm machinery. The CESAR registration database is accessible 24 hours a day 365 days a year to provide support to police officers who are making enquiries at the roadside about equipment stopped in suspicious circumstances with persons they suspect may have stolen it. Equipment can be checked and instantly the ownership of a machine can be determined.
NCSupportive Pathways supplied by YouTurn FuturesThe service is designed to support young people to move away from Neighbourhood Crime and also support those at risk of being criminalised through their activities.
The Supported Pathway scheme delivers a more intensive approach for those young people who do not qualify for the support of the more acute services; and, assist statutory providers that need support for the more challenging young people to help turn their lives around and away from these influences. It is intended to identify and assist where there are gaps in current service provision.
NCDOCO fundingThis fund is designed to enable the Force DOCO’s to implement and source funding for interventions that they highlight from the surveys they carry out and install signage raising awareness of initiatives being carried out in areas
VAWGLuton All Women’s Centre (LAWC) – 2 VAWG  Prevention WorkersLAWC will employ 2 full time VAWG  Prevention Workers to specifically support this bid and deliver educational programmes which focus on attitudinal/behavioural change and improving understanding and confidence preventing and/or responding to VAWG and to prevent VAWG in public spaces. To include-
*1 hour VAWG workshops across the schools network looking at early interventions with years 5-8
*Assemblies and lunchtime pop ups across schools not engaged with as part of Safer Streets 4
*Develop and deliver ‘raising boys’ workshops
*Workshops delivered to school staff, to build a project legacy, in terms of understanding and confidence in engaging in conversations with children and young people around VAWG
*Workshops delivered to parents around how to talk to their children about gendered abuse and violence
* Support the roll out of Pol-Ed
*Training and support to Watch Scheme volunteers including the development and roll out of a volunteer toolkit ( linking with ASB initiative to produce one toolkit)
VAWGPerformance in EducationPerformance in Education (PIE) use theatre to educate and engage with young people to stimulate learning and inspire involvement and deliver bystander training interventions. PIE will deliver a series of interactive theatre style 1/2 day workshops around the theme ‘Step in Speak up’.
The workshops will teach
*What is Sexual Violence Against Women And Girls
*The 5Ds as effective and safe intervention strategies
*Consider why people don’t intervene and remain passive
bystanders and the importance of acting
*Investigate the properties of a healthy and unhealthy
relationship.
*The importance of early intervention with your friends and
peers on inappropriate behaviour and language towards
women and girls often dismissed as “banter” or “having a
laugh”.
*How to effectively challenge your friends when they display
inappropriate behaviour or language
VAWGImplementation of Pol-Ed across the schools network.Launch Pol-Ed across schools in the county. Pol-Ed is an education programme developed by West Yorkshire Police and educators. Its purpose is to keep children safe by developing their understanding of risks, consequences and the law and to develop their resilience and ability to help and support each other. Resources within Pol-Ed include lesson plans and schemes of work, although lessons can be used to suit school’s needs. Lessons fall under three broad headings Relationships, Keeping Safe and Understanding the Law and therefore fall across the VAWG and ASB applications. All of the resources focus on Ofsted lines of enquiry and are linked to the DfE statutory guidance and PSHE Association Programme of Study to ensure they can best the needs of young people across the county. Access to the resource would be free to every school.
VAWGSafer Streets Delivery Resource(s)Employ 2 part-time Safer Street project co-ordinators to oversee the implementation of the Safer Streets initiatives for the duration of delivery period. The co-ordinators will work across all 3 applications VAWG, ASB and NC.The co-ordinators will also look at further opportunities to engage with communities and groups to expand the reach of the project, in particular developing contacts in the hard to reach communities to maximise delivery opportunities.
VAWGBystander InterventionsPromote bystander training interventions with particular focus on the NTE and Watch volunteers. Street harassment is an experience that devalues women and men of all sexual orientations, cultures and beliefs causing them to doubt their own experiences. When we watch harassment happen without intervening, it deepens the trauma for the person being harassed and shows the person doing the harassing that their behaviour is OK. We want to disrupt this dynamic by promoting Stand Up free bystander training – both the 10 minute online workshop and 1 hour interactive sessions.
VAWGBedfordshire Digital Investigation Team

ASB – Use the profiles to research areas that are having specific problems with ASB to gather intelligence and capture videos/posts that have filmed.  This can be used as intelligence and identify those responsible and assist neighbourhood teams.

VAWG – search on suspects or those suspected of being involved in VAWG.  Utilising different social media platforms to locate wanted suspects in or collate information being posted online, groups they belong to or videos they watch that would assist in bad character or evidence of propensity of violence towards woman and girls.  We would also look at any public places and establish trends and identify those involved or responsible.

Neighbourhood crime – Lots of crime, including drugs, violence and ASB are plaguing neighbourhoods and a lot of this is either being facilitated or glorified through social media platforms.

On 27 October 2023, the OPCC was advised that the application had been successful. The PCC’s decision is to accept the grant and the associated criteria, and to co-ordinate the delivery of the approved projects within the timeframe set by the Home Office.

Recommendation:
To note decision
Bedfordshire Police and Crime Commissioner
I hereby approve the recommendations above.

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