Untitled - Westminster City Council

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The causes of crime To parrot a well-known phrase, crime-fighting isn’t just about being tough on crime but also tough on the causes of crime. But what are these causes of crime Naturally, the reasons for crime vary depending on the type of offence and the relationship is often complex. For example, when the economy declines, you might expect to see a rise in credit card fraud, whereas assault is more closely linked to alcohol consumption. Drug abuse is also another wellpublicised factor, as is lack of education and unemployment. the Family Recovery Programme, where Westminster City Council identifi es families struggling with social problems and provides support to help them achieve a better quality of life and avoid falling into a persistent life of crime. Other initiatives include ‘Westminster Works’, whereby Westminster City Council has helped people back into work, as well as the ‘City Recovery’ programme where over £100 million is being spent on projects to fund, support and enhance economic development. Also we have a number of schemes to provide positive activities for young people and help youth offenders get back on track. Many of these are deeply entrenched social issues which require complex solutions that don’t happen overnight. Because of this, it’s very important that both Westminster City Council and the Metropolitan Police work together as, although it’s the police’s duty to catch criminals, it’s the council’s role to create an environment which discourages crime in the fi rst place. A number of projects are being carried out to deal with these deeper underlying issues. One of the most prominent is It’s the council’s role to create an environment which discourages crime in the fi rst place. Because solving these problems involves co-operation between many different local organisations, we’ve set up the Safer Westminster Partnership to ensure all the relevant people, including the council, police, schools, social workers and criminal justice system, are working together to help stop crime. 4 To fi nd out about these programmes, simply visit westminster.gov.uk and type ‘Family Recovery’, ‘City Recovery’ or ‘Westminster Works’ into the search box.
Family Recovery Programme The Smith family have suffered from problems including lack of home routine, poor school attendance and domestic violence as well as signifi cant debt and issues with benefi ts. Their behaviour has also had a serious impact on their neighbours and the wider community. The Family Recovery team built a plan to specifi cally target these problems. Included in the plan were: • a behaviour reward system for the children • a parenting strategy to help improve the children’s school performance and behaviour at home • domestic violence workers working with family members • debt support and advice about the possibility of considering bankruptcy proceedings • agreed sanctions if they do not work to improve their behaviour. Measures such as these not only help the family, but also reduce the risk of crime and anti-social behaviour in the local community. Please note names have been changed to protect the privacy of the family involved. The project’s fantastic and the team’s been really helpful. Things have really changed for us since we got involved in the programme. Jane Smith For more information on the Family Recovery Programme, contact the project team on 020 7641 5871/5847. 5
Page 2 and 3: Introduction Crime is one of the bi
Page 6 and 7: What’s being done As mentioned ea
Page 8 and 9: What’s being done Another success
Page 10 and 11: Ways to protect yourself from crime
Page 12 and 13: Number of crimes in Westminster 6 R
Page 14 and 15: Reporting crime If you see or want
Page 16: Contact numbers Metropolitan Police

Untitled - Westminster City Council

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