VRU yearly reports
find out more about what we do and why
We have a variety of yearly reports which we publish to showcase what we are doing and why.
The below are just snippets which have been taken from the wealth of data contained within these reports.
Copies of these reports can be found in our resources section in the future or you can contact us to have the PDF versions emailed to you
Kent and Medway VRU Strategy 2023
Violence can be prevented
The Kent and Medway VRU has the mission to make Kent’s communities the safest that they can be through long term coordinated approach prevent serious violence from occurring. The World Health Organisation Report on Violence (2002) states that, ‘Violence can be prevented. This is not an article of faith, but a statement based on evidence’ and, using this as the basis for the VRU’s vision, the VRU will work with partners to make communities safer.
This will be achieved by:
- driving collaboration between services and ensuring that the response not inhibited by geographical, age or service boundaries.
- building the capacity of communities to be involved in finding the solutions to violence and to play an active part in how violence is prevented. This will be built on creating a trusting relationship between communities and the services that work in and for the communities in focus.
- making best use of technology and evidence to improve everyone’s understanding of why violence occurs, how it can be prevented and what works.
Kent and medway strategic needs assessment
public health approach
The Strategic Needs Assessment (SNA) is an essential part of the Kent and Medway Violence Reduction Unit’s (VRU) work to develop a Public Health approach to tackling serious violence in the County. Cooperation around the sharing and analysis of both data and intelligence is a cornerstone of the 5C Public Health approach to tackling serious violence, and is one to which the VRU is committed.
The Serious Violence Duty places a legal requirement on specified authorities to share data and create an SNA to inform a strategic response to violence prevention. This SNA demonstrates that the county is in a strong position to meet the challenge of the duty as it evidences the sharing of data and analysis from Kent Police, Medway Council, Kent County Council, Kent Probation and Health colleagues.
In January 2020 the VRU produced the first Strategic Needs Assessment of serious violence for the county and this document builds on that work and of subsequent SNAs. The assessment shows that there has been positive progress in making the County a safer place for residents; violent crime and violence with injury has fallen when we look at violence per 1,000 of the population, but there remain challenges about the rates of robbery and the harm from knives and weapons. The cohorts of particular concern are those which have been highlighted in previous analyses, with both those aged under 18 and those aged 18 – 24 being over-represented as either suspects or victims of serious violence.
KEnt & medway vru
annual reports
The Violence Reduction Unit's Annual Report is a review of the previous year's activity and allows an opportunity to reflect on areas of success, emerging good practice, and areas where additional focus is required. The report looks at the different areas in which the VRU operates and provides a summary of both the work and the impact of the work during that period.
All VRUs are expected to deliver a core function of supporting the strategic coordination of the local response to serious violence with all relevant agencies, and to achieve this through the offer of leadership, the establishing of a Core Membership that works with and through the VRU. With the implementation of the Serious Violence Duty, there may be opportunities to enhance the VRUs role in ways that are decided by the authorities specified within the duty
