Community Initiative to Reduce Violence (CIRV) is a focused deterrence programme that seeks toto identify the people most likely to be involved in violence and combines communicating the consequences of violence with support for developing positive routes away from it.
The Youth Endowment Fund and Home Office are investing £5 million to test focused deterrence projects in five police force areas. All sites will be subject to rigorous evaluation, to find out if the model works here in the long term.
Two of the selected sites are in the West Midlands region (Coventry and Wolverhampton) which will each receive a £1 million investment. The West Midlands Violence Reduction Partnership along with key stakeholders will develop this community-led, partnership approach to preventing violence in Coventry and Wolverhampton.
In April 2023, CIRV will launch simultaneously in both Coventry and Wolverhampton. This programme is a collaborative effort between the Home Office, The West Midlands Violence Reduction Partnership, West Midlands Police and associated partners. The programme will work in an integrated way with partner agencies to identify and rehabilitate those involved in gangs and county lines. CIRV is holistic and sequences support services whilst working closely with local policing team to deliver the right support at the right time. The provision will include 24/7, 365 day on call service to enable the team to respond at teachable and reachable moments in real time. The team will be trained in advanced psychological techniques and work with international experts to achieve its outcomes.
Please see attached CIRV overview document for further information about the project.
