Effect of focused deterrence violence intervention on adolescents and adults involved in violence

Recruitment & Eligibility

Status: Ongoing

Sex: All

Target Recruitment: 2500

Inclusion Criteria

Leicester:
1. A member or associate of a group involved in committing serious violence or engaged in activities which drive the local serious violence problem, such as drug supply
2. They must also meet one of the following criteria:
2.1. In the past 2 years, they have been arrested for or suspected of committing serious violence
2.2. Arrested for or suspected of committing offences involving a weapon or possession of a weapon
2.3. Flagged as a habitual knife carrier
2.4. Arrested for or suspected of drug offences

Manchester:
1. Aged between 14 and 25 years
2. Connected to a homicide or near-miss violent offence with a group violence component committed in the past 2 years or who committed a non-domestic abuse flagged violent offence in the past 2 years
3. Reside in Manchester or North Trafford

Nottingham:
1. Aged between 14 and 24 years
2. Reside within the Nottingham City boundary or have group bonds to the area
3. They also must have been arrested for a violent or weapons offence in the previous 12 months, or for an offence that involved three or more perpetrators

Coventry 'high-risk cohort:
1. Aged 14 years or over
2. Objective link to a recognised group within Coventry
3. Address within the ward boundaries of Coventry
4. Either have a violent offence committed (or listed as a suspect) within the last 18 months that is non-domestic abuse (but includes violence with injury, homicide, possession of weapons) or be linked to an Organised Crime Group (OCG) with a violent threat/sub-threat in police intelligence logs

Coventry referral cohort:
The main criteria for the population of interest is a gang/group link or being at risk of criminal exploitation. The eligible individual further must have an unmet need and must live in the city or within 1 hour from it (if moved). The remaining criteria slightly differ based on the referral agency but include, for example:
1. Evidence of involvement in violence/exploitation
2. Arrest for a trigger offence
3. An OCG link
4. Association with criminal peers or in a known gang spot
5. Known to social care
6. Are a looked-after child
7. Presented with injury with requisite suspicion
8. At risk of school exclusion
9. Under probation or on licence
10. Evidence of unstable home environment/criminality

The trial population is those who have opted out of the intervention once having been referred, identified as eligible and offered the intervention.

Wolverhampton 'high risk' cohort:
1. Aged 14 years or over
2. Have an objective link to a recognised group within Wolverhampton
3. Have an address within the ward boundaries of the city
4. Either have a violent offence committed (or listed as a suspect) within the last 18 months that is non-domestic abuse (but includes violence with injury, homicide, possession of weapons) or are linked to an Organised Crime Group with a violent threat/sub-threat in police intelligence logs

Wolverhampton referral cohort:
The main criteria for the population of interest is a gang/group link or being at risk of criminal exploitation. The eligible individual further must have an unmet need and must live in the city or within 1 hour from it (if moved). The remaining criteria slightly differ based on the referral agency but include, for example:
1. Evidence of involvement in violence/exploitation
2. Arrest for a trigger offence
3. An OCG link
4. Association with criminal peers or in a known gang spot
5. Known to social care
6. Are a looked-after child
7. Presented with injury w

Exclusion Criteria

No explicit exclusion criteria have been specified. However, if an individual is already subject to focused police attention through involvement with an organised crime group, they may be excluded at the request of police partners.

As the project is multicentred and operates in the context of a range of other ongoing violence interventions and related activity, exclusion criteria may emerge for reasons of participant or staff safety. These will be captured through an ongoing process evaluation.

Study & Design

Study Type: Interventional

Study Design: Not specified

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
umber of violent offences, measured by a count of violence against the person offences in police records attributed to the individual after 1 year

Secondary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
1. Time to offence, measured by the number of days until a recorded offence of violence against a person in police records attributed to the individual within 1 year<br>2. Co-offending, measured by the number of recorded offences of violence against the person involving more than one perpetrator in police records attributed to the individual within 1 year