FORWARD THINKING
VIOLENT CRIME: A NEW APPROACH
STOPPING
Violent crime costs the people of Lancashire £347 million a year. Now the county’s Superintendent is calling for a nationwide, cross-agency approach to dealing with this crisis
With an aspiration of ensuring every person living or working in Lancashire feels safe from violence and violent crime, Superintendent Justin Srivastava has outlined the vision of a county embarking on a “trauma-informed journey”.
culture, our beliefs, our way of life, our values”, it was a “must have” when it came to understanding and reducing violence. The emphasis he placed on
Speaking during the fourth session of the recent Global Law Enforcement & Public Health Association’s (GLEPHA) Marketplace of Ideas, Supt Srivastava said that while trauma-informed practice would require a change to “our
14 | POLICE | DECEMBER 2022
“Ultimately, no-one wakes up in the morning and just thinks ‘I’ll be violent today’ or ‘I’ll have a drug problem’ – there are always underlying causes.”
partnership working was echoed by Felia Allum, the University of Bath’s Professor of Comparative Organised Crime and Corruption, who told
attendees that while dealing with violence prevention was important, so too was the need to acknowledge that “police cannot do this alone”. Supt Srivastava said: “Across England at the moment there’s a real drive towards trauma-informed approaches, because ultimately, no-one wakes up in the morning and just thinks, ‘I’ll be violent today’ or ‘I’ll have a drug problem’ – there are always underlying causes. “There are currently 20 violence reduction units, and a trauma-informed network across those units, which are all trying to collate best practice and develop trauma-informed practice across England.” Supt Srivastava was joined by Dr Joanna Goldthorpe, a research fellow based at Lancaster University, to deliver their presentation. He told the GLEPHA event: “We’re working with the College of Policing, our public health partners and NHS partners around the trauma-informed definition. Linked to that, we are working with and across multiple government departments to try to develop a trauma-informed standard across England.” Locally, Supt Srivastava said the aim for Lancashire is to become a “trauma- informed county”, a vision supported by the Lancashire Violence Reduction Network (VRN), whose partners include Lancashire Constabulary, Lancashire’s Police and
Crime Commissioner, Lancashire County Council and the NHS. “We understand what the ‘causes of the causes’ are in Lancashire – education,
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