New ‘High Harm’ team to reduce violent crime

IW Police has set up a newly-established ‘High Harm’ team, which will be headed by Inspector Alison Attwood, who has recently started a new role on the Island.

Inspector Attwood said: “The team will be made up of myself, a sergeant, a handful of PCs and a PCSO and our focus will be targeting perpetrators who cause the most harm to our communities.

“My priorities are around tackling serious sexual offences and violent crime in particular.

“This will involve working with repeat domestic abuse perpetrators to reduce their offending, identifying and disrupting Class A drugs networks and dealers involved in serious violence, as well as working hard to reduce knife-crime and target habitual knife carriers on the Island.

“This type of offending has always been a policing priority, of course, but our team will be focused on really driving this work forward. In addition to the above, we will also be supporting children who are at risk of criminal and sexual exploitation.

“Much of what we do will be intelligence-led, so a real plea from me is to keep reporting incidents into us. Depending on what is reported, you may not see an immediate police response, but we will be working behind the scenes to put the bigger picture together before taking action.”