A NEW blueprint for tackling crime and improving community safety in Hartlepool has been published.

The three-year plan, which covers 2014 to 2017, aims to cut reoffending through a combination of prevention and enforcement activity, cutting thefts and burglaries by raising awareness and encouraging people to take preventative measures and protecting individuals and their families from the risk of domestic violence and abuse.

The plan was drawn up by the Safer Hartlepool Partnership, which comprises key organisations including Hartlepool Council, Cleveland Police, Cleveland Fire Brigade, the Probation Service and the Hartlepool and Stockton-on-Tees Clinical Commissioning Group.

Councillor Christopher Akers-Belcher, chairman of the Safer Hartlepool Partnership, said: “Thanks to the dedication and team-working of the organisations involved – and in spite of the Government’s ongoing cuts to public services - the Partnership has made very substantial progress.

“I am confident that our plan for the next three years will maintain that momentum and we will continue to listen closely to the concerns of people across the borough to ensure that we achieve our goal of making Hartlepool a safer place in which to live.”

It will also concentrate on tackling anti-social behaviour and hate crime and supporting those who are vulnerable to it and it will also be working to reduce the harm caused by illegal drug and alcohol misuse.”

As part of the action plan, the alcohol arrest referral scheme made over 1,500 contacts with individuals arrested for alcohol-related crime in Hartlepool, with the aim of motivating them to reduce their alcohol consumption and re-offending.

The Safer Hartlepool Partnership Plan 2014-17 can be viewed online at saferhartlepool.co.uk and copies are also available from the Safer Hartlepool Partnership’s office at Hartlepool Civic Centre during normal office hours.