Police Response to violent crime in Portsmouth
Police would like to provide the community with reassurances, following the recent articles in the media While there have been some serious incidents this year, it is important to note that recorded incidents of serious violent crime have decreased, compared to the same period last year. Whilst we recognise the community’s concerns, the most recent incidents show no pattern. There have been a variety of complex factors associated with the incidents and in most cases the victims and suspects are known to each other in some way. Therefore we would like to reassure you that Portsmouth remains a safe place to work, live and visit. Following the strategic assessment, one of the current priorities for the Safer Portsmouth Partnership is in relation to people with complex needs, who are vulnerable to exploitation, crime and in particular violent crime, such as assault. This work is ongoing. We believe a small number of the serious assaults, as well as some less serious ones, may be linked to drugs supply; this is also an area of work that the partnership is working hard to prevent. Police continue to work proactively to disrupt this type of activity and we have seen a number of successes recently:- On October 11, five people were arrested following proactive warrants tackling drug-dealing and drug-related violence in Portsmouth. On September 15, Kandan Sivapunniyam (20) from Stratford, London, was sentenced to 15 years in prison, after he was stopped by police in Portsmouth on March 10 with a handgun and Class A drugs. Over the past six months Operation Build has been operating. This is a partnership initiative which concentrates on protecting vulnerable people and addresses from drug-dealers visiting the city and associated violence. We plan to continue with this approach. In response to recent concerns, the Partnership is conducting extensive analysis on serious violent crime to inform our short term response and longer term problem solving.
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