Youth Violence Intervention Unit
A new, fresh approach to tackling youth violence has been launched by Northamptonshire Police.
The Youth Violence Intervention Unit (YVIU) is an enhanced version of the team formerly known as CIRV and continues to focus on intervention as a way to help steer young people away from violence and gang criminality.
The new unit differs from CIRV in two ways. It works with children aged eight to 17, and a disruption team will work to tackle those teenagers who have been identified as being at risk and refuse to engage with the unit.
Ground-breaking data analysis techniques have helped us to identify a cohort of children from across the county whose behaviour and circumstances mean they are vulnerable to exploitation which could lead to criminal behaviour.
Analysis shows this age group is where we see the biggest jump in offending and so therefore offers us the greatest opportunity to make a difference.
We are working closely with schools, the Youth Offending Service and local authorities, including the Office of the Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner, to deliver this work with prevention at the heart of what we do.
We want to get upstream and believe this work will allow us to target the right people at the right time with the right intervention.
The Unit has four teams:
A team of six PCSOs with manager will work across the county, their focus will be on those who have become involved in a serious violent offence, as well as those who show concern relating to knife crime, gangs, drug crime and violence.
This team is currently funded by the Office of the Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner and includes five specialist youth workers and ACE workers and a manager. The team is going to target teenagers who want to work with professionals.
This team of eight police officers has recently been formed and will co-ordinate disruption plans to create engagement opportunities through arrest and multi-agency working for those teenagers who don’t want to engage with the YVIU.
Northamptonshire Police has seconded four police officers to work with the Youth Offending Service as part of our statutory obligations. These officers triage and process the referrals sent to them from the police, but also work with nominals convicted at court where a referral order is given.
Any professional working with young people can make a referral to the unit via the QR code below or by using this referral form.
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