Extra £1 million for police to tackle violent crime in Nottinghamshire

Paddy Tipping, Nottinghamshire Police and Crime Commissioner said the force had been chosen as one of 18 nationally to be granted an extra £1 million from the Home Office, in a bid to tackle the spiral of knife crime gripping Britain's streets.

Mr Tipping said: "This funding is urgently needed and I am pleased our campaigning has been successful. I've been calling on the Government to equip police forces with the resources they need to tackle the knife crime epidemic and, while it won't solve all our problems, this money will certainly make a difference.

"This grant will enable us to confront knife crime head on but enforcement is only a short-term fix. Nottinghamshire - and Britain - needs a long-term vision to solve the psychological and social roots of serious violence and that battle will continue in earnest."

Craig Guildford, Nottinghamshire Police Chief Constable said: "I welcome the Home Office's provisional allocation of £1m to tackle serious violence, particularly knife crime, in Nottinghamshire.

"Knife crime levels have risen across the country including Nottinghamshire, albeit at a slightly slower rate than the national average. Every incident has potentially serious or life-changing consequences so we treat it extremely seriously.

"There is already a great deal of work going on in Nottinghamshire to tackle knife crime and this £1m of extra funding is a significant boost that will strengthen our ability to invest in prevention and enforcement work and keep our communities safe.

"We have the only dedicated knife crime team outside of the Metropolitan Police who have a high rate of success with intelligence-led enforcement, and we have invested in schools and early intervention officers to work with schoolchildren across the county as part of our efforts to prevent knife crime happening in the first place.

"Last month we held a highly successful knife amnesty that removed 635 weapons from circulation in just one week and we use a range of other tactics throughout the year from test purchase operations and weapons sweeps in public places to ensure we are doing everything we can to tackle the issue."

Mark Spencer, Sherwood MP has welcomed the announcement.

He said: “This is really positive news to see our local Nottinghamshire Police getting this funding.

“I know that it will be put to good use,and will go towards tackling crime that affects local people in

Sherwood.

"I’m always happy to support the Police in any way I can.”