Aiming High - improving community safety

We want to reduce crime and disorder and the misuse of drugs and alcohol in the borough of Rochdale. We also want to increase the feeling of safety in the borough. We will build upon our success of leading the work of the Rochdale Safer Communities Partnership. As a council we will directly deliver services in the community which will address crime and disorder and the misuse of drugs and alcohol. We will also co-ordinate and commission services from our wide range of partners.

Crime and the fear of crime remain a major concern for local people. Crime has fallen by 18% over the last four years, but rose again in the last year. Feelings of safety have risen recently from 39% to 51%. Anti-social behaviour and the effects drugs and alcohol addiction have on our communities remain real concerns for the borough.

Priorities

  • We will build and promote safer communities
  • We will reduce crime
  • We will reduce the misuse of drugs and alcohol
  • We will build respect in our communities
  • We will prevent offending by children and young people
  • We will reduce adult re-offending

What we will do

We will:

  • Roll out a programme of ‘weeks of action’ in which all our partners will provide dedicated support and action in neighbourhoods
  • Assist in the establishment of a domestic violence Joint Service Centre to provide a comprehensive multi-agency advice and support service for victims of domestic violence
  • Design out crime through the planning requirements process
  • Build upon our already successful implementation of alley gating and closed circuit television (CCTV) to more neighbourhoods across the borough
  • Continue to improve safety in the most vulnerable homes in the borough through security measures provided by the Home Improvement Agency. The Trading Standards Service will continue to reduce door step crime by implementing more No Cold Calling Zones
  • Continue the ‘Beacon Status’ Healthy Schools initiative by making sure all children and young people are educated and well informed about the dangers of drug and alcohol use
  • Ensure our young people’s substance misuse services are targeted at the most vulnerable young people
  • Develop new and innovative services to assist more drug and alcohol users to become free from their addiction
  • Improve access to our drug and alcohol services for women, black and ethnic minorities and the 25-29 year old age range
  • Work with all our partners to develop and implement a full range of prevention and enforcement activities to combat alcohol related crime and disorder, including arrest referral schemes and alcohol exclusion zones
  • Build respect in the borough by engaging, enabling and educating our communities
  • Co-ordinate and commission the Family Intervention Project for which we have been given pilot status. The project will rehabilitate those people who have committed serious and long term anti-social behaviour
  • Invest extra resources into our Youth Service so that more young people are engaged in positive activities
  • Continue to directly work with and commission services which work with those young people most at risk of becoming involved in crime and disorder activity. These projects will work holistically to address a range of young people’s needs
  • Work with young offenders across the Borough to rehabilitate their lives
  • Co-ordinate multi-agency working so that our most prolific offenders are dealt with appropriately through the criminal justice system
  • Assist our partners in implementing the neighbourhood policing model, so that there is a more visible uniformed presence in our communities
  • Communicate directly with communities about what is being done to tackle crime and disorder, so that people feel safer in the community