Community Safety in Chester

The Crime and Disorder Act 1998 received Royal Assent on 31 July 1998. The purpose of the Act is to provide a statutory framework for public agencies to tackle crime and disorder and help create safer communities.

The legislation reflects a number of underlying priorities identified by the Government:

• Improvements to the youth justice system in reducing youth offending.
• Better collaboration between agencies and the communities they serve to tackle crime and improve community safety.
• Ensure local authorities and other public bodies consider the crime and disorder implications of all their decisions.

The Act names local authorities and the police as the "responsible bodies" to implement a crime and disorder reduction strategy in the local district. It also places a legal obligation upon other public sector agencies such as police authorities, probation committees and health authorities to "co-operate" fully in this work.

Chester Community Safety Partnership

In order to address the requirements of the Act, Chester Community Safety Partnership was established. The partnership currently has a membership made up of representatives from:

In 1998 the Community Safety Partnership carried out its first crime and disorder audit and in 1999 produced the Chester Community Safety Strategy, "A Safer Place for People".

The partnership has now undertaken a second crime and disorder audit and produced this new three-year community safety strategy.

The first strategy resulted in a number of successes including:

• The securing of £1.3 million for CCTV in the city centre
• Development of home watch schemes
• Drugs market disruption initiatives
• Developing neighbourhood warden schemes in Blacon and Lache
• Launching "Project Rural Matters" to support rural communities address community safety issues
• Joint initiatives by Police, Chester City Council and Cheshire County Council to remove abandoned vehicles
• Developing multi-agency working to address community safety and crime issues

Over the last three years Chester Community Safety Partnership has played a major role in supporting crime reduction and improving community safety. The partnership will built upon the successes already achieved and through this new strategy seek to make an even greater impact on crime and disorder in Chester.

You can learn more about the various Community Safety initiatives and schemes taking place in this section of the website.