London is one of the safest cities in the world. Despite this, serious violence is still a significant issue.
There is a huge cost to individuals, families and communities through loss of life, and the trauma caused through both the physical and psychological injuries suffered.
As Mayor of London, I am determined to lead from the front in tackling this problem - with a focus on both arresting violent offenders and tackling the root causes. But I can't do this alone.
I am committed to working with partners to do all that we can to break the cycle of violence. I have already put in place a range of strategies, inititivies, and interventions to ad-dress this issue. I have also made commitments to develop resources to help other partners get involved.
I established the first Violence Reduction Unit (VRU) in England and this toolkit is an important resource for use when responding to an incident of serious violence. It aims to break the cycle of violence by putting in place services to support and help individuals and communities.
Please take the time to read it and use it and make our city an even safer place.
The VRU was set up to bring together specialists from health, police, local government, probation, and community organisation to tackle violent crime and the underlying causes of violent crime, and increase feelings of safety in our city.
A number of Londoners already have some of the tools they need to tackle violence and its root causes - but many need additional support to help put their time, expertise or skills to best use.
A number of Londoners already have some of the tools they need to tackle violence and its root causes - but many need additional support to help put their time, expertise or skills to best use.
I hope that you find the toolkit useful and I look forward to working with you in developing our public health approach to tackle violence in London.
ABOUT THIS
TOOLKIT
Knife crime, gun crime, homicide, acid attacks, exploitation. However you define it, serious violence isa significant issue. And the impact of violent crime on society is significant.
Reducing serious violence is a complex issue, requiring significant effort across a range of stakeholders. It is not something that government, the police or local communities can do alone. The reasons for violence are diverse, therefore any strategy to support people in the aftermath of a serious incident of violence mustunderstand these individual differences and have the flexibility to address and respond to them in different ways.
The aim of this toolkit is to provide supporting resources to people who are involved in responding to a serious violence incident. It is specifically targeted at community safety partnerships, due to their key role in coordinating a local response.
The toolkit has been developed to help people prepare for, plan and deliver their response to an incident. It is not designed to be prescriptive. It draws on good practice across London, and provides resources alongside your existing policies and procedures to support you in providing a consistent experience for those impacted and ensuring the best outcome.
What is a serious violence incident?
Any incident in relation to knife crime or serious violence where the effectiveness of the response is likely to have a significant impact on the confidence of the victim, their family and/or the community.
This can be any incident, not just a fatality. It is the impact of the incident that needs to be assessed as ‘likely to be significant’ beforethe incident can be considered serious.
HOW TO USE THIS
TOOLKIT
The serious incident toolkit has been designed in partnership with community safety partnerships across London. It provides tools, resources and guidance tosupport those responding to an incident of serious violence.
The
Incident Checklist can be used prior to an incident as a planning tool, to explore existing processes, stakeholders and resources so they are ready if an incident takes place. When an incident has occurred, the checklist has been designed as a quickguide to highlight key areas of consideration. It can help shape your approach while in an emergency situation, and is designed to complement the processes and procedures that you already follow.
More information about what these areas could include, or support in preparing for future incidents or providing longer-term support, is included in the before, during and after sections of the toolkit.
THANK YOU
This toolkit has been developed with the input from a range of people working in the area of community safety partnerships. We have drawn on information froma variety of sources including the College of Policing, Department for Education and the NHS. We thank everyone for their input and assistance.