The Government are currently taking forward a very full range of work which will continue to reduce violent crime. We have, for example, recently passed the Violent Crime Reduction Act, which gives the police and local communities the powers they need to tackle guns, knives and alcohol-related violence.
Southampton is one of the areas included in the Tackling Violent Crime Programme, through which the Home Office is working intensively with practitioners in a number of local areas with high levels of more serious violent crime, to support their efforts to reduce alcohol-related crime and domestic violence, to improve police and other agencies' performance and partnership working, and to improve local strategies.
Southampton was also the first area in the South East to adopt a violence prevention initiative based on Accident and Emergency Unit information sharing. This follows a successful model of community violence prevention developed in Cardiff, which has demonstrated that hospital A&E intelligence can be pivotal in directing violence reduction initiatives, and ultimately reducing the harm caused by violent crime.
Sexual violence is also a priority. Funding has been provided this year for the Southampton Rape Crisis and Abuse Centre, a registered charity providing support, advocacy, counselling and therapy, and for No Limits, Southampton, an organisation which provides information, advice and counselling services for young people. Two independent sexual violence advisers, who provide targeted professional support to victims of sex crimes, are based in Southampton.
Southampton Safe City Partnership are engaged in, and sponsor, a range of initiatives, including:
Improved crime recording and analysis
Domestic violence advocacy to assist victims and reduce repeat offending
Dedicated hate crime and harassment reporting line to the police and local authority
Extended Designated Public Places Order use
Test purchases with on and off licences
CCTV in taxi cabs
Best Bar None Scheme
Taxi Marshals
Nightlink Bus
Dedicated police monitoring of CCTV to identify incidents of violence early.