Monthly Column by Beds Police and Crime Commissioner John Tizard: Prevention is always preferable

That is why Bedfordshire Police is investing in prevention. It has appointed a senior police officer, a superintendent, who works together with a small team to develop and implement prevention programmes. As Police and Crime Commissioner I am very supportive of this approach but want to go further.

We need to stop crime from being committed.

A strong effective focus on prevention and early intervention reduces crime and helps deliver wider societal and economic benefits. It can break the cycle of offending – research shows that around 80% of prolific adult offenders began committing crimes as children. It reduces costs for the public sector - the estimated economic cost of late intervention across the country is £20.6 billion per year. Lower crime rates reduce pressure on police, courts, prisons, schools, local authorities, and healthcare providers. It also future-proofs crime reduction efforts. Prevention should be non-negotiable for the police and wider public sector.

Crime prevention cannot be achieved by the police alone. It requires bold action to address social injustice, broken childhoods and societal failure.

This requires commitment and investment by and collaboration between local authorities, the NHS, schools, probation services, and community organisations.

It also needs us, the public, and businesses to take appropriate action such as ensuring that our homes and businesses are secure.

Prevention means sparing potential victims from the trauma of crime. It also gives those enticed or coerced into criminal behaviour the opportunity to take a different path.

Some preventive interventions will take time to deliver results for the police, but this is not an excuse to ignore prevention. For example, reducing school exclusions is likely to reduce violent crime, but it will also reduce pressures in the classroom, in children services and young people’s mental health services. Some of these results will be realised earlier than others. The business case is strong, and the moral case is even stronger.

I am determined for Bedfordshire to be safer. Prevention is critical to this mission.