Welcome to the Safer Portsmouth Partnership, the key anti-crime organisation for Portsmouth. We are actively reducing crime and substance misuse in Portsmouth making the city a safe place to live, work and visit.

Alcohol Misuse is our No.1 priority and a key cause of crime in the city. Most people enjoy a drink, but over 40,000 people in Portsmouth are considered problem or high risk drinkers. Drinking excessively not only affects their health, but their actions too.

Youth crime has reduced by 25% in the last 5 years and only 3% of young people received a criminal record last year*. Portsmouth has invested in crime prevention services for ten years and consequentially young people today are less likely to go to prison and are more likely to get the support they and their families really need. Our community is stronger and safer as a result.

Tackling drug misuse is our No.3 priority as it is often linked with theft. We spend about £2 million each year on services to prevent and treat drug misuse. 30% of re-offenders required drug treatment last year. Over half of the known problem drug users in Portsmouth are already in effective treatment.

It's estimated that 10% of offenders are responsible for half the crime in Portsmouth. Re-offending has strong links to alcohol and drug misuse as well as financial, employment, housing and family problems. We work with those most at risk of re-offending to break the pattern and target the key causes that trigger re-offending behaviour.

Everyone wants to live in a nice, safe area where people get along. But this isn't always possible and often anti-social behaviour can cause real problems for residents. In Portsmouth, our dedicated ASB unit focuses on the causes of anti-social behaviour as well as dealing with actual cases.

Violence is devastating - physically, emotionally and financially. In Portsmouth, hidden violence such as domestic abuse and hate crimes account for a quarter of all violent crimes. About 50% of all violent crime is alcohol fuelled and children are one of the most at risk groups. Our partners are working hard to reduce violence across the city and as a result violent crime went down by 8% last year.

Theft continues to be a problem in Portsmouth with shop theft accounting for almost 15% of all crime in the city. Theft is linked closely with all our top 4 priorities: alcohol misuse; drug misuse; young people and adult re-offending.

Introduction Alcohol Young People Drugs Reoffending Anti-social behaviour Violence Theft

Hampshire Probation supervises more than 6,000 offenders each year.

Crime in Portsmouth has dropped by 20% in the last five years (2005-2010)

Portsmouth has the highest number of hospital admissions due to alcohol illness and injury in the south east

The average domestic abuse survivor will only report the crime after 35 incidents.

Over 700 alcohol test purchases were carred out in 2009/10

Over 3,300 pupils saw the Be Safe, Stay Safe roadshow in 2010

The community wardens responded to 3,776 calls in 2009/10

6,719 crimes were solved in 2009/10

98 families were supported by the Preventing Youth Offending Project in 2009/10. That's more than double than the previous year

742 people received effective drug treatment in 2009/10 - that's up 13%

There were 1,049 fewer ASB incidents in 2009/10 compared to the previous year

Youth crime has dropped 25% in five years (2005-2010)

Shoplifting is the most common reason a young person gets a criminal record in Portsmouth

Anxiety,depression and self-harm are often linked to alcohol

Crime fell by 9% in Portsmouth in 2009-2010

Domestic burglary fell by 10% in 2009-2010

Theft from a vehicle fell by 12% in 2009-2010

Theft of vehicles fell by 32% in 2009-2010

Criminal damage fell by 16% in 2009-2010

Violence against the person fell by 1% in 2009-2010

Arson fell by 10% in 2009-2010

The number of first time offenders under 18yrs of age dropped by 64% in 2009-2010

In 2009-2010, we helped 829 people who had suffrered domestic abuse

The Safer Portsmouth Partnership Plan 2011-2014

The Safer Portsmouth Partnership Strategic Assessment 2011

The Safer Portsmouth Partnership Strategic Assessment 2011 - Appendices

The Safer Portsmouth Partnership Strategic Assessment Executive Summary 2011

What are our long term priorities for 2011-2014?

Portsmouth has its share of problems, like similar cities. But we’re confident we can make a difference by focusing on our priorities and delivering on our promises outlined in our Plan 2011-2014.

The priorities for 2011/2014 are based on the findings of our strategic assessment / appendices which we completed in September 2011. This annual assessment analyses information from our various partner agencies as well as your concerns about crime, anti-social behaviour and substance misuse. It informs our priorities and highlights new areas of concern that need tackling.

Alcohol misuse

Alcohol misuse is a priority because it’s a key underlying cause of crime in the city. Most people enjoy a drink, but over 40,000 people in Portsmouth are considered problem or high risk drinkers. Drinking excessively not only affects their health, but their actions too. Accroding to the British Crime Survey, in 50% of crimes the victim believed the offender was under influence of alcohol.

Young people at risk

Portsmouth’s young people are the future of the city and its reassuring to know that 97% of them were not convicted of a criminal offence last year. Our work over the last 6 years has seen a reduction in youth crime of over 24% and we will continue to focus on early intervention and protection for young people and their families that diverts them from entering the criminal justice system

Drug misuse

Drug misuse can have wide reaching effects, not just on the drug user, but on their family and the community. There is a small group of problem drug users in Portsmouth – around 1300 – half of which are already in effective drug treatment. There are strong links with theft and re-offending (30% of re-offenders required drug treatment last year).

Re-offending

It's estimated that 10% of offenders are responsible for half of all crimes. Re-offending has strong links to alcohol and drug misuse as well as financial, employment, housing and family problems. We work with those most at risk of re-offending to break the pattern and target the key causes that trigger re-offending behaviour.

Domestic abuse

Domestic abuse is devastating - physically, emotionally and financially. Domestic abuse accounts for over 25% of violent crime in Portsmouth with younger people and children most at risk. We are working extremely hard to reduce domestic abuse across the city.

What are our other short term priorities for 2011-2012?

The five long term priorities above overlap and they can contribute to a number of other issues and crimes. We have a number of other short term priorities that we will focus on in 2011-2012.

Theft

Anti social behaviour

Everyone wants to live in a pleasant, safe area where people get along. But this isn't always possible and often anti-social behaviour can cause misery for residents. We have a dedicated ASB unit that focuses on the causes of anti-social behaviour as well as using legal powers to deal with the most difficult cases. In Portsmouth, ASB is reducing but it remains a problem in some areas of the city.

Who's involved