PCC John Campion is reassured that serious violence in West Mercia is lower than pre-covid levels.
Whilst West Mercia has seen a 21% rise in serious violence over the last year, it is 2% lower than the most recently released data.
Recent national data from Cardiff University’s Violence Research Group has found that serious violence incidents have nationally increased by over a quarter since lockdown restrictions have ended. This 23% rise is the biggest since records began.
To tackle serious violence across West Mercia, the PCC supports a range of projects and schemes that help to support the problem at the root cause. One of the many schemes includes the Steer Clear project, which helps to educate and support people to stay out of crime.
PCC John Campion said: “As PCC it is reassuring to see that West Mercia are seeing fewer incidents than the national picture but it is clear more needs to be done to tackle the problem.
“I will ensure we continue to support projects that tackle serious violence at the root cause. Prevention is integral. Through education we can prevent crime from happening and ultimately make our communities safer.”
