Issue - meetings

The Board will received information which will bring awareness of the Safe Zones project, and identify any improvements that could be supported by the wider partnerships.

Contact: Chief Superintendent James Griffiths – Kirklees District Policing Commander

Chief Superintendent, James Griffiths, provided information regarding how and why Safe Zones were developed.  He explained that the aim is for the Safe Zone logo to be seen at different places around Kirklees and encouraged Board members to look out for the logo.

In summary, the Board was informed that Safe Zones were developed in December 2019 and was borne out of a discussion as part of a focus group with young people from a school in Huddersfield as part of the former Kirklees Children’s Safeguarding Board.  The discussion focused on what they would like the police to do for them, and the response from one young person was “there is nowhere to go if you are feeling unsafe”.  Although things stalled as a result of the pandemic; it has now been picked up and is widely developed across Kirklees.

The ambition of Safe Zones is:

-        to create a network of these safe places, where women and girls particularly, are provided with a place that they can use as a momentary retreat, although not solely just for women and girls, it did fit into the violence against women and girl’s agenda.

-       It can also be for vulnerable adults and for others who can use these areas if they feel unsafe.  They just need to call in if they need some help, or if they are lost

-       To work with partners sharing our knowledge and experience of the risks children and young people face.  This was an opportunity to give people better training around risks.

-       To ensure our Safe Zone partners feel confident in recognising, responding, and reporting safeguarding concerns.

-       To support and empower partners to help keep all women and girls safe (Active Bystanders).

The Board was informed that West Yorkshire Police are committed to creating an environment where women and girls can feel safe within the county, free of fear and harassment.  As part of the Force’s commitment to reducing Violence Against Women and Girls, it has launched its Strategy, outlining how it intends to ensure that women and girls are safe and feel safe. 

The three key priorities are:

•        Pursuit of perpetrators, 

•        Creating safe spaces (in private, public, and online),

•        Increasing trust and confidence in policing.

The Board was informed that in terms of how Safe Zones are trained, it involves explaining about the active bystanders, raising awareness, and looking at how Safe Zones are provided for women and girls in a complex world. It also includes the following:-

-       Making sure that people understand and have an awareness of child exploitation both sexual and criminal exploitation, debunking some of the myths around county lines exploitation

-       An awareness of grooming and that can include both grooming there and then, or non-recent grooming and how people may find that somewhere like a Safe zone may be the first place where they open up

-       Knowing the signs across a whole range of incidents and crimes, and behaviour that people  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7