Commissioner’s Priority: Protect Vulnerable and At-Risk People

John Dwyer, Police and Crime Commissioner for Cheshire, has launched his Police and Crime Plan, outlining his six key priorities for policing, crime and community safety in the county for the next three years. One of these priorities is to protect vulnerable and at risk people.

Preventing people from becoming victims of crime is one of the Commissioner’s key responsibilities. Understanding why certain communities or groups of people are targeted, and identifying how to prevent this, is paramount to the Commissioner being able to carry out his role and support everyone in Cheshire regardless of their age, race, sex, sexuality, disability or any other characteristic.

In his Plan, the Commissioner outlines how he plans to protect vulnerable and at-risk people. This includes:

• Working with agencies to improve the understanding of the needs of vulnerable people and victims and the services offered to them.
• Providing more community-based support for victims of domestic abuse and sexual violence through Independent Domestic Violence Advocates (IDVAs) and Independent Sexual Violence Advocate (ISVA) schemes.
• Tackling violence and intimidation against women and girls.
• Extending mental health support
• Protecting children, young people and adults at risk by working with safeguarding boards.

John Dwyer, Police and Crime Commissioner for Cheshire said: “It’s vital for me and the Constabulary to understand which crimes disproportionately affect certain people, so that we can tailor the support we offer.

“Helping and supporting victims is key, but another key component is to change offender behaviour. Making people realise that their actions aren’t acceptable and that nobody should be a target of crime because of who they are is a start. But we can prevent this from ever happening too, by educating our children about behaviours that are wrong and won’t be accepted in society.”

Work is already being done to achieve this. Cheshire’s Harm Reduction Unit brings together the Constabulary and health partners to provide practical support to victims through Special Victims’ Advocates, whilst also rehabilitating offenders and holding them accountable for their actions.

In addition to this, the Commissioner has also been successful in bidding for money from the government’s Safer Streets Fund, which will set up programmes to prevent violence against women and girls and change perpetrator behaviour.

The BBC have also commissioned a documentary which focuses on the work of the Harm Reduction Unit with regards to stalking. Highlighting the invaluable work the Constabulary does.

John Dwyer added: “I’m looking forward to the airing of the documentary and hope it empowers those who feel vulnerable or at-risk to report their experience to the police and speak to someone about their circumstances.”

To read the Police and Crime Plan 2021-24, go to:

www.cheshire-pcc.gov.uk/what-i-do/making-cheshire-safer/police-and-crime-plan

To request a hard copy of the Plan, please email:

pcc@cheshire.police.uk

Pictured - John Dwyer, Police and Crime Commissioner for Cheshire at the Open the Door event tackling domestic abuse.