UK’s first ever police national Troubled Families Conference held in Durham

Chief Constables, Chief Executives and other influential individuals have attended the UK’s first ever police national Troubled Families Conference held in Durham.

The Troubled Families programme will work with 400,000 families nationally over the course of the next five years.

It involves police working with other partners to tackle the underlying issues of vulnerable children and young people to improve their life chances.

This programme focuses on supporting families to independence and resolving issues at the earliest possible opportunity. 

Chief Constable of Durham Constabulary, Mike Barton, said: “We know that the demand placed upon the service by the most vulnerable for example those experiencing domestic abuse, children missing from home and the mentally ill is a substantial portion of our demand and is rising.  

“That demand is often repeat demand such as numerous calls being received from the same address due to domestic incidents because the underlying issues such as alcohol addiction have not been addressed.

“At a time of shrinking resources and reducing staff numbers we face a significant risk that we will retreat into a purely reactive service with limited capacity for neighbourhood policing and problem solving.

“This highlights the need to reduce the demand placed upon the police service at the point of crisis in people’s lives.

“By encouraging and developing our front line staff to identify and recognise the most chaotic and vulnerable families and by working with our partner more closely we will more effectively prevent offending, reduce risk presented to the most vulnerable and keep our communities safer.”