What is Safer Streets?
The Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner (OPCC) for Cleveland took part in all five of the Home Office-funded Safer Streets projects.
The first Safer Streets programme ran during 2020-21.
Since then, the OPCC has led a further four successful bids. It has worked with partners throughout Cleveland on all projects.
Safer Streets 1
Crime prevention measures focussed on the Burn Valley and Oxford Road ladder, in Hartlepool, Newport, in Middlesbrough, and South Bank, in Redcar and Cleveland.
Working in partnership with local authorities and other agencies, the OPCC developed £1m-worth of successful bids.
Crime prevention measures included:
- Extra street lighting
- Improvements to alley gates
- Screening void properties to stop them becoming a magnet for antisocial behaviour.
Safer Streets 2
The OPCC secured £366,289-worth of investment for Stockton Town Centre and the surrounding wards of Oxbridge and Parkfield to spend in 2021 and 2022.
Crime-busting measures included improved CCTV and lighting, installing new alleygates and providing crime prevention advice and home seucrity kits to residents.
Safer Streets 3
Safer Streets 3 aimed to combat violence against women and girls (VAWG.)
In September 2021, the OPCC in partnership with Middlesbrough Council, was given £381,771 by the Home Office to spend in the Middlesbrough town centre and Newport wards.
Measures to improve safety included:
- Extra support for victims of stalking and harassment;
- Training to enable members of the community to help people suffering domestic abuse.
Safer Streets 4
Pallister Park and Hemlington, in Middlesbrough, shared £696,611.01-worth of Home Office funding as part of Safer Streets 4.
Initiatives aimed to cut criminal damage, arson, attacks on emergency services, serious violence, burglary, drug use and drug dealing in public places.
Work included additional CCTV and funding for youth outreach. A full report shows the impact of Safer Streets 4.
Safer Streets 5
The final Home Office Safer Streets project ran from October 2023 for 18 months.
It focussed on tackling antisocial behaviour, VAWG and neighbourhood crime in specific areas of Stockton, Hartlepool and Middlesbrough.
Read the full Safer Streets 5 report.