Violence and Organised Crime

We are working as a partnership to help support and protect communities against crime as well as make Rotherham a hostile place for criminals. This includes serious violent crime, organised crime, and terrorism.

Why Is This a Priority?

The threat from extreme right-wing ideologies is increasing. 2020 saw three further neo-Nazi groups proscribed (banned) under UK law. Key risks are self-initiated terrorism and online radicalisation.

In recent months there has been an increase in gangs of youths identifying themselves as “postcode gangs”. Furthermore, 38% of knife crime victims were vulnerable victims.

88% of all suspects of organised crime related offences were linked to drugs intelligence.

13% of suspects of organised crime related offences were aged under 18 - young people are being exploited into committing offences on behalf of organised crime gangs.

What Have We Done?

We have increased enforcement and implemented a range of disruption activities to prosecute or interrupt the activities of serious organised criminals, has resulted in the dismantling of some established crime groups, whilst improved mapping processes have identified new groups.  Over 500 disruptions have been recorded since 2018.

Public engagement and feedback have consistently identified that drugs (use and supply) cause significant concern within communities. Progress has been made in tackling illegal drug use and activity, using partnership tools and powers in addition to Police powers. Drug treatment services are also involved in the overall approach. Concerted partnership action is tackling cannabis cultivation which has caused significant problems for residents in some areas of the Borough in 2021-22. 

The Safer Rotherham Partnership funded an Organised Crime Partnership Coordinator from 1 November 2021 to strengthen partnership work to prevent individuals and groups becoming involved in organised crime, improve information sharing, coordinate action to disrupt organised crime, and target those causing the highest harm to individuals and communities.

Collaborative work is taking place with the South Yorkshire Violence Reduction Unit to take a public health approach to preventing and reducing violence.

What Are We Doing?

Violence

Our aims: Provide ways out for those already entrenched in violence, or who have been previously incarcerated, to support effective rehabilitation.

Reduce violence through victim identification, care, and support programmes.

Reduce availability and access to lethal weapons.

Work to change cultural and social norms that support violence.

Encourage all professionals and organisations to continue to work toward becoming trauma-informed, to an approved standard for South Yorkshire.

Organised Crime

Our aims: proactively identify and implement a whole system partnership approach to tackling organised crime.

Prevent individuals and emerging groups from becoming involved in organised crime.

Build stronger information sharing structures between partners and communities.

Target our partnership approach to those causing the highest harm in our communities.

Disrupt organised crime via a partnership approach, utilising the Pursue, Prevent, Protect and Prepare framework.

Counter Terrorism

Our aims: reduce the risk of terrorism by taking a partnership approach to the Prevent, Protect and Prepare workstreams of the UK Contest Counter Terrorism Strategy.

Achieve compliance with the Channel, Prevent, Protect and Prepare duties (under the Counter Terrorism and Security Act 2015) demonstrated through self-assessment using Home Office toolkits.