Category: England

The Premier League Charitable Fund has today (Wednesday 27 November) announced the formation of a new partnership with the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC).

The partnership, which will see the charitable arm of the Premier League work closely with the NPCC and 43 police forces across England and Wales, is designed to use the power of football to help reduce anti-social behaviour and foster meaningful change in areas across England and Wales.

Using football as a tool to build community cohesion, the new partnership will support collaborative working between professional football club charities and their local police forces to inspire young people to reach their potential and provide them with positive opportunities which divert them away from possible involvement in anti-social behaviour, crime and youth violence.

Chair of the Premier League Charitable Fund and former Deputy Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police Tim Godwin OBE QPM said, “I am proud to see the Premier League Charitable Fund and National Police Chiefs’ Council working together to create real and measurable change for communities across England and Wales through the Premier League Kicks programme.

“With the Premier League’s continued investment, and by joining forces with the National Police Chiefs’ Council, we are addressing shared challenges such as anti-social behaviour and youth violence. This partnership approach will encourage collective action that we hope will lead to safer, more connected communities, with football at the heart of that transformation.”

The Premier League Charitable Fund’s partnership with the National Police Chiefs’ Council, the body that enables independent Chief Constables and their forces to work together to improve policing for the public, will support 93 professional football club charities delivering the Premier League Kicks programme to work collaboratively with police forces to benefit people in their local communities.

As well as joining forces to raise awareness of positive community initiatives and to share professional resources, the partnership also involves the formation of a data sharing agreement to allow police forces and professional football club charities to share non-personal statistical data.

This data will allow the Premier League Charitable Fund and NPCC to monitor the success of the Premier League’s longest running community programme, Premier League Kicks, in reducing youth crime and anti-social behaviour in priority areas identified by the NPCC.

NPCC Lead for Anti-Social Behaviour, Deputy Chief Constable Andy Prophet, said: “On behalf of the NPCC I am delighted with the continuing success of our collaboration with the Premier League.

 “The Premier League Kicks programme is a fantastic way of engaging youth, developing self-esteem and teamwork, which supports the policing mission to create safer streets and tackle crime and anti-social behaviour.

 “This is an exciting collaboration between the NPCC and the Premier League Charitable Fund and that will allow us to understand the positive impact this amazing programme has on all our communities.

 “We look forward to continuing to work with the Premier League Charitable Fund on the Premier League Kicks programme to reap the benefits which extend far beyond football in its ability to positively impact young lives.”

Launched in 2006 as a collaboration between the Premier League and the Metropolitan Police, Premier League Kicks uses the power of football and sport to inspire young people to reach their potential.

Today, Premier League Kicks is delivered by 93 professional football club charities and is supported by 36 police forces across England and Wales. More than 520,000 young people have benefitted from the programme to date.

Premier League Chief Executive Richard Masters said: “The Premier League is committed to using the power of football to create lasting change in communities. Through working closely with the police, we will continue to create opportunities for young people to thrive. Football is more than a game, and programmes like Premier League Kicks prove that. Working together with the Premier League Charitable Fund and Club Community Organisations across the country, we can build a legacy that extends far beyond the pitch, ensuring that our impact is felt by those who need it most.”

To find out more about Premier League Kicks and the work of the Premier League Charitable Fund, please visit www.premierleague.com/plcf

Policing is ready to support the Government’s ambition to halve VAWG offences in the next decade

T/CC Maggie Blyth, the national lead for Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG)  says policing, nationally and across each police force, is ready for the challenge of supporting the Government’s ambition to halve VAWG offences in the next decade, which has helped elevate the scale of VAWG; which she set out herself in July in the national policing threat assessment.

Policing issued a clear assessment of the epidemic of VAWG stating that 1 in 10 women in this country are victims and 1in 12 are estimated to be perpetrators.
She added: 

“No matter where you are in the country, whether in a city, town or more rural area, the issues are the same. But now everyone is looking through the same lens. There has been a real shift of focus on VAWG and that gives me encouragement.”

Having stepped into the role of Chief Constable (interim) in Gloucestershire she stated that “she could see the absolute commitment that front line officers and staff are giving to the pernicious nature of domestic abuse, rape, stalking and harassment” which are the primary threats of VAWG, as well as online harm and child sexual exploitation abuse.

T/CC Blyth recognises there is still so much more to do when every three days a woman dies at the hands of a man, often behind closed doors.

“We need to do more to stop male-perpetrated violence” she said at the outset of the national ‘16 days of action campaign’ which calls for an end to violence against women and girls.

T/CC Blyth, reaffirmed this message at the Prime Ministers’ roundtable on Monday, and talked about what policing needs to tackle offending which “largely and disproportionately affects women and girls.”

At a Women’s Aid seminar today, she reflected on the huge challenges as part of a wider Criminal Justice System, which is unable to deal effectively with the number of perpetrators.

She said: “When 1 in 20 of the population are perpetrators, we can’t lock them all up, it’s about how we change attitudes and change behaviour.”

T/CC Blyth made it clear that policing must maintain the focus on a data driven approach to recognise the most dangerous repeat suspects and that for these a prison sentence was paramount, but also recognised that more community-based approaches were needed to manage the risk presented by some male perpetrators, and that ultimately prevention is key.

This requires a system wide approach where education is key, schools have a part, but so does industry and other sectors. 

T/CC Blyth added:

“Misogyny is everywhere, across society. This culture needs to change, especially when younger people are influenced online. I am horrified by what some are exposed to, and that violence and sexualised violence are seen as norms. It’s a real concern, but it is outside the scope of policing.

“We need to target perpetrators. Our courts and prisons are under immense pressure, and we know prison is not always the right outcome. This is why we need a cross-sector approach with prevention at the heart to protect victims now and in the future.”

In the last four years there has been an increase in victims coming forward for support with VAWG recorded crime up by 37%. And from 2022 – 2023, more than one million VAWG related crimes were recorded, which accounted for 20% of all recorded crime. 

T/CC Blyth said:

“It’s talked about much more now, and we hope we have done enough to make victims feel confident in reporting and that when they come forward, they will be listened to and taken seriously.

“I am proud of how policing has mobilised itself to tackle the scale and threat of VAWG offences. If I was a perpetrator, thinking I would get away with it, I would think differently now.”

Role of misinformation online shown to fuel actions of increasingly younger demographic, as it’s revealed that 17% of those arrested in relation to the summer riots and disorder were under the age of 18.

Police chiefs have today spoken about the role that misinformation played in the riots and disorder over the summer and the devastating impact it had on communities. The comments were made at the APCC and NPCC Partnership Summit in London today, Wednesday 20 November

After the tragic killing of three young girls in Southport in July, widespread unrest spilled into violence and disorder in communities across England and Wales. The cost to policing these incidents stands at £31.7m as mutual aid was deployed across the country, a cost that is expected to rise.

Assistant Chief Constable Mark Williams, Head of the National Police Co-ordination Centre (NPoCC), said:

“I am incredibly proud of the way that policing pulled together to deploy officers to protect the communities most at risk.

“The disorder was one of the biggest challenges to national policing since the 2011 riots and was the first time the National Mobilisation Plan was evoked by NPoCC, which releases officers from forces to be deployed to the worst affected areas.”

During the 12 day period of rioting, over 40,000 hours’ worth of shifts for public order officers were stood up to protect communities from the violence and disorder. The estimated cost of the police operation stands at £31.7 million, a cost that is expected to rise.

Police chiefs reflected on how exposure to misinformation and harmful ideologies online are influencing the actions of an increasingly younger demographic, as data reveals that 17% of those arrested in relation to the disorder were under the age of 18.

Assistant Commissioner Matt Jukes, Head of Counter Terrorism Policing, said:

“As well as responsible ownership of technology companies and the international work of government to stop misinformation spreading online, we need to equip people to know how to deal with false information.

“It’s too late to wait to de-bunk misinformation that has real-world consequences, we need to get into classrooms so we can ‘pre-bunk’ and teach young people how to respond to this online content.”

Noting the impact this had on communities, West Mercia Police and Crime Commissioner John Campion, said:

“Some felt they had legitimate cause to protest, some were hell bent on causing violence and damage. We need to ensure that the public have accurate information to stop this from happening again. It’s about having the right information out there that people can believe in.”

On the 9 October 2023 the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC), in collaboration with the National Police Coordination Centre (NPoCC), launched a coordinated policing response to address potential impacts on British communities following the terrorist attacks in Israel.

This initiative, known as Operation Tarlac, was designed to enhance support for local policing efforts, deliver consistencies in policing response and align with existing counter-terrorism frameworks to ensure public safety and community cohesion.

Once the severity of the initial attacks became clear, it was evident that their impact would be deeply felt within communities across the United Kingdom. Previous incidents of escalated tension in the region, notably in 2014 and 2021, demonstrated how such conflicts directly affect the community fear and confidence.

The response from communities at home has been well documented, and we saw protest activity take place almost immediately following the initial attacks. London saw the bulk of this activity, but at its peak, police forces across the country (and not even including London) responded to 67 protests across a four day period in early November, demonstrating how impactful these events were.

To date over 2,600 protest events have required varying police involvement. This has often required the diversion of resources from other priority business and requiring tens of thousands of rest days cancelled. This has contributed to Operation Tarlac being one of the longest and most resource intensive policing operations in recent history.

Over the past year, most of this protest activity has continued to take place peacefully and without issue, but where we have seen incidents of criminality occur, officers have been on hand to respond swiftly and gather evidence to support prosecutions. Since we nationally started tracking data, there have been over 550 arrests made by police at protests. This include arrests at assemblies, processions, direct action and post event protest arrest when someone has been identified through enquiries and investigations.

Policing’s focus has been on supporting our communities by being highly visible, engaging and responding quickly to crime and disorder. Despite evidenced increased engagement specifically within Muslim and Jewish communities we have seen continued heightened incidents of hate crime reporting.

We continue to work closely with community partners and government departments to ensure the most effective reassurance is taking place because we know we have work to do to create the confidence to report incidents and feel safe in their community.

We have been clear throughout this conflict that as emotive as it can be, there is absolutely no excuse for anybody to use it to engage in criminality. Hate crime has not been tolerated. Committing offences during protests has not been tolerated. We have made arrests and are well prepared to continue to do so.

Chief Constable Chris Noble is the NPCC Strategic Lead for Operation Tarlac, and the national lead for Policing Protests. He said:

“The tragic events of October 2023 and beyond continue to resonate with our communities, and our thoughts remain with those who were affected by that incident, in addition to events that have occurred in the region since.

“Over the past 12 months, our officers have responded to an increase in protest activity seen in response to events overseas, often under significant scrutiny.

“In February the Home Affairs Select Committee acknowledged the complexities involved in policing protests, particularly in balancing the rights of all parties. The recent protests have presented the most sustained period of pressure and coordination on policing since 2012. Our officers and staff have demonstrated exceptional commitment and professionalism in responding to these challenges, and their efforts deserve our gratitude and recognition.

“We recognise that events in the Middle East continue to evolve, that a further escalation in conflict is possible, and that this will raise concerns further in our communities at home, particularly those who have friends and family in the region.

“People wish to have their voices heard, and the right to lawful protest is a key part of any democracy, which UK police uphold and facilitate.

“We continue to ask that those looking to organise any future events contact their local police force and engage with them ahead of the time, to ensure that any activity that takes place does so peacefully and lawfully, to the benefit of all in attendance.”