Northumbria police commissioner applies for £2m of Government funding to improve street safety

Written by on 17th May 2022

Northumbria Police and Crime Commissioner Kim McGuinness has requested £2m of extra government funding to help improve public safety and tackle anti-social behaviour.

The Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) has applied for funding from the Home Office Safer Streets fund to introduce more night-time police patrols and overtime for officers on the Metro.

Since securing the last wave of funding, Northumbria Police has introduced more officers in the night-time economy, launched its Fun without Fear campaign and Safer Transport Northumbria app. 

Kim McGuinnes said: “There’s a lot at stake if the Government doesn’t commit to funding our plans.

“If there is any truth in their intentions of improving women’s safety and bringing crime like anti-social behaviour down, Government will hand over the cash we need to keep building on the good work we have started around prevention, changing behaviours, raising awareness and supporting those who need it.

“We know the investigative response to awful crimes like sexual offences is good but this is reactive. I want to see a really proactive approach, where we get ahead of these problems – there has to be a focus on preventing these things from happening at all.

“We know what we’ve got to do and we just want to get on with the job – but it’s over to the Government to not let the people of the North East down. We’ve got a strong bid in, it’s in their hands now.”

McGuinness, who was re-elected as Police and Crime Commissioner in May 2021, has worked on the funding bid with the six local authorities in the force area.

Last month Spark revealed that the PCC’s ‘must-have’ Safer Transport Northumbria app designed to make public transport safer was downloaded only 1,000 times in its first month of being available and had cost nearly £8,000 so far.


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