Stopping crime and tackling its roots: how our prevention hubs solve problems in the community

Prevention is at the heart of much of the work GMP does as a force, proactively tackling issues in the community before they can spiral into more problematic and complex situations. This is regularly done across a range of projects, operations and work across a variety of areas.

Through the force’s prevention branch, an increased effort has been put into preventative work and tackling the roots of issues that can lead to criminality. This includes working with partners, local agencies, charities, housing providers, health organisations and more.

Among other things, local prevention hubs help reduce anti-social behaviour in the community, by monitoring hotspot areas, building on intelligence, and directing resources to help prevent people from becoming repeat victims.

This could see anything from increased patrols and putting up gates and fencing to direct work with charities and signposting vulnerable people.

In just one example, Tameside’s Neighbourhood Prevention Hub was recently honoured with a prestigious force award for its continued excellent results in its field over the last year.

The team has emerged as one of the force’s top performing, thanks to its proactive approach in engaging with multiple partners within the community, ensuring a variety of services and agencies receive a first-class policing service.

Notably, their prevention efforts extend to various areas, including addressing knife crime amongst children through ARIS-funded initiatives. ARIS funds see ill-gotten criminal cash diverted to worthy causes in the community, which can benefit a wide range of people.

Inspector John Cesarz, from GMP’s Tameside district, said: “We are committed to providing a preventative approach to all aspects of work we do. We meet regularly with Neighbourhood teams and have monthly problem-solving meeting with our partners to discuss any issues in the community, and what we can do together to solve them.

“We will analyse all available data including hotspots, offenders, victims, and more to ensure we get the most up-to-date picture of what is going on, so we can utilise the appropriate resources to solve the issue raised.”

The Tameside hub additionally employs officers trained in various disciplines, including: school engagement, knife crime, and licensing. The team also has a hospital officer and specially-trained case workers.

Inspector Cesarz added: “We will continue to work to tackle repeat demand and ensure we work on issues that the local area tells us about. By working with specially trained officers from various teams across the district, and indeed the force, we can bring crime down, make arrests, and get justice for victims.”

Chief Superintendent Emma Taylor, head of GMP’s Prevention Branch, said: “Across the force, some great work is going on in our local prevention hubs, to help bring down crime and tackle the heart of many issues that lead to crime.

“Our local officers engage with our community whenever they can, including through social media channels such as Bee In The Loop – check that out if you can for all local information.”