What's On
Tuesday, 15 June 2010
Keep It Safe World Cup Campaign
An innovative campaign which has slashed Christmas drink-fuelled violence and anti-social behaviour in
Keep it Safe - a partnership between city agencies like the primary care trust, council and police - has seen dramatic reductions in violent crime, anti-social behaviour and hospital accident and emergency admissions over the last two festive seasons - traditionally a time of year when offences increase due to excessive alcohol consumption.
Now the agencies want to achieve similar results over course of the World Cup which kicks off tomorrow (Friday June 11) after statistics have shown that in previous tournaments the combination of football and too much to drink leads to an increase in incidents of violence and abuse both in public and at home.
Incidents of domestic violence rose by as much as 31 per cent on
The aims of the World Cup Keep it Safe Campaign in Wolverhampton are to reduce instances of domestic violence by taking a zero tolerance approach to offenders and providing increased support to domestic violence victims. Campaign organisers have teamed up with the Wolverhampton Domestic Violence Forum and the West Midlands Probation Service to deliver this element of Keep it Safe.
The campaign also aims to improve safety at public venues where sport is being shown and give agencies a better understanding of public places where drinking is prevalent.
Multi-agency teams have carried out targeted visits at licensed venues prior to the start of the tournament to ensure appropriate safety conditions are maintained and compliance with licensing requirements are secured.
A series of activities are also planned at youth centres and city parks during June and July to give young people something to do. Football pitches will be marked up at
A five-a-side football tournament, organised in conjunction with the city council's youth service, takes place on June 19 for young people aged 16-19 at the Goals Soccer Centre in Willenhall.
World Cup screenings will also take place at a selection of youth clubs where young people will be able to watch matches in safe environments.
Ros Jervis, consultant in public health for Wolverhampton City Primary Care Trust, said: “We think it is particularly important to run a keep it safe campaign during the World Cup as traditionally these types of events where emotions run extremely high have seen increases in the amount of alcohol being consumed which we know can lead to public order problems such as fights and anti-social behaviour and most worryingly rises in domestic assaults.
"The combination of football and alcohol can exacerbate excuses to be violent in both the public and home environment – however we must stress this is not the fault of football – but violent people using any excuse to be violent.”
DCI Derek Quinn from Wolverhampton Central police station said: “Our strategy is two-fold, in that we are offering enhanced support to known domestic violence victims while at the same time working jointly with the Probation Service to send a strong message to offenders.
“We will be using the full weight of the law to crack down on perpetrators of domestic violence and secure prosecutions, even where a victim refuses to make a statement or give evidence in court.
“We are doing this by dispatching officers to domestic abuse incidents who are equipped with body cameras to capture crucial evidence from the moment they arrive at the scene.
“Sadly there is a risk that the World Cup and associated drinking may increase the number of incidents around