Safer Streets funding enables new Community Wardens for Leamington - and countywide community safety interventions

It's thanks to £115,000 of Safer Streets funding and £75,000 of Operation Resolve funding.

The Safer Streets funding round which has enabled the extra staffing and resources was launched by the Home Office in July 2023, with a total of £820,000 being made available to the Police and Crime Commissioner for Warwickshire for crime prevention projects across the county.

The Community Wardens, employed by Warwick District Council, operate joint patrols with Warwickshire Police’s Safer Neighbourhood and Investigation Standards and Operations (ISO) Officers.

They have already covered around 800 miles on foot since patrols began, completing over 1,600 designated hotspot patrols across Leamington.  

Since the new Community Warden posts have been in place, Leamington has seen a significant decrease in anti-social behaviour (ASB) (down 34% in April to June this year) and serious violence (down 27% in the same period).

Significant community safety interventions by the Wardens have included:

• serving 5 Community Protection Warnings on individuals causing ASB
• serving 15 Fixed Penalty Notices, including to people breaching Public Space Protection Orders (PSPOs)
• the location and seizure of 9 weapons, including knives, machetes, and improvised shanks, as a direct result of intervention from the Wardens
• supported police in 22 arrests

The Community Wardens have also been responsible for 9% of all the positive outcomes logged by the Police’s ISO team, who tackle issues such as shoplifting.

The Wardens have been supporting local businesses by protecting them from ASB and shop theft, retrieving goods in excess of £3000 to date.

Another important part of the Community Wardens’ role is safeguarding and supporting vulnerable people and signposting them to the relevant agencies.

Community safety has also improved thanks to £60,000 of Safer Streets funding that will been used to install new CCTV cameras in Leamington, on Old Warwick Road, the junction of Warwick New Road/Rugby Road and York Walk.

Warwickshire Police have used Safer Streets funding to complete training for its officers and staff in behaviour detection officer methodology, focusing on Leamington town centre, Nuneaton, and Rugby.

This is a security method that uses observation to identify individuals who may pose a threat. It involves looking at a person's verbal and non-verbal behaviour to detect potential threats with the aim of disrupting potential criminals and terrorists before they can cause harm.

The Safer Streets funding has also been used for other community safety intervention projects across the county and for a countywide educational and awareness campaign by Crimestoppers to combat violence against women and girls (VAWG), with some excellent results.

The six-week long campaign ran from the middle of January to the end of February this year and sought to improve the understanding and confidence of people living and working in Warwickshire in responding to VAWG and preventing it from it happening in public places.

The campaign’s aim was to encourage people in the wider community to feel empowered to report VAWG, rather than the responsibility for reporting it being only with the victim. It highlighted the impact of VAWG on the community as well as on the victims, bystanders and those directly impacted.  

The campaign proved successful, with significant increases in the number of people in Warwickshire reporting VAWG-related issues to Crimestoppers.

Safer Streets funding has also been used to buy area-specific crime prevention equipment, based on local crime data, for a range of different Community Empowerment events. These are being held across the county in collaboration with local Warwickshire Police Safer Neighbourhood Teams, with the aim of enabling residents to make their communities safer.

A community survey by the teams at the events has been gathering information from residents. The information will help to identify other local community safety interventions that could take place in the future. The results are currently being reviewed and the interventions are being planned.

Warwickshire’s Safer Streets projects were recently showcased to Home Office representatives, with Philip Seccombe, Warwickshire’s Police and Crime Commissioner, leading the event. Attendees included the High Sheriff of Warwickshire, Rajvinder Kaur Gill.

Philip Seccombe, The Police and Crime Commissioner for Warwickshire, said:

“The Safer Streets funding has enabled us to bolster our efforts in tackling a number of problems that communities have told us impact on their feelings of safety in Leamington.

“The role of the Community Wardens is really important; they provide additional high-visibility uniformed foot patrols, supporting the police, and resulting in even more positive outcomes. I am pleased to hear that the Wardens have already covered so much ground in the town and are really making a difference to the safety of our residents.

“I will continue to support this work to make sure our streets are safe for Warwickshire residents.”

Cllr Andy Crump, Chair of the Safer Warwickshire Partnership Board and Warwickshire County Council’s Portfolio Holder for Community Safety, said:

“It’s fantastic to see the Safer Streets funding being used to target community safety issues in Leamington town. The new CCTV cameras and Community Wardens are acting as a deterrent and supporting Police patrols, making a real impact on the scourge of criminal activity including Anti-Social Behaviour, knife crime and shoplifting, which all impact our communities so negatively.  

“I’m also pleased to see the positive outcomes from countywide community safety campaigns and events on the reporting and prevention of crime by Warwickshire residents. We need to continue to work together within our communities to make a positive, long-lasting impact.”

The Safer Warwickshire Partnership includes representatives from Warwickshire’s councils, Fire and Rescue service, Police, the Police and Crime Commissioner, the Probation Service, Health, and charitable organisations. For more information visit www.safeinwarwickshire.com.