Enforcement

There are no rewards for obeying society’s rules, but for those who break them there is the promise of punitive action – a promise which must be kept.

In many of our most deprived areas, residents are often reluctant to take a stand against those who are violent and crimes of violence are often underreported. Here, violence has become so ingrained it is accepted as a way of life. To challenge this attitude and increase confidence in the system, Criminal Justice services must keep their promise to deliver swift visible justice, and be seen to do so. One of the best ways of doing this is by working with communities and addressing issues at local level.

CIRV (Community Initiative to Reduce Violence)

CIRV is the VRU’s violent gangs’ initiative. Run by the VRU along with partners from Community Safety, housing, social work, education, health, careers services, community groups and others, the initiative works by treating the gang as a unit rather than as individuals and using the gang themselves to address their behaviour.

To find out more, go to the CIRV pages.

The ACPOS Anti-Violence Campaign

Led by the VRU on behalf of the Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland (ACPOS) and the Scottish Government, the Anti-Violence Campaign focuses on encouraging police forces across Scotland to use and develop traditional and innovative solutions to issues of violence and embed them into everyday police work.

Themes tackled under the campaign will vary, as will each individual force’s experience of them. Therefore rather than applying a wholesale, national approach, forces work on each issue at a localised level, exchanging best practice in order to develop and improve their response to the problem together with partner organisations and agencies.

To find out more, go to the Anti-Violence Campaign pages.