Plymouth was the location for the first South West regional seminar exploring and sharing best practice around how to keep the region’s night time economy safer last week.
The South West best practice seminar was jointly hosted by the Devon and Cornwall Police and Crime Commissioner’s office and the Local Alcohol Partnerships Group (LAPG.) The event brought together people across the region to share best practice and highlight how partnership working can help create safer environments and reduce crime.
Speakers included representatives from the Home Office, partnership schemes such as Best Bar None, Street Pastors and Community Alcohol Partnerships and experts in licencing and community safety. It showcased how areas across the region such as Exeter, Weymouth and Plymouth have worked with a range of stakeholders in the night time economy.
Police and Crime Commissioner for Devon, Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly Alison Hernandez gave the keynote speech outlining how important the night time economy is to the wider social and economic fabric of the region.
She added: “It’s all about working together – we want people to be able to go out in the evening and have a good time but we want them to do it safely.
“It’s been great to bring people together and learn from each other about how we can all continue to keep our communities safe.”
John Timothy, Chief Executive of the Portman Group, said:
“The message that came out loudly and clearly from the event was that partnership working between stakeholders such as local authorities, businesses and the police is vital to achieving a safer night time economy and reducing alcohol harm.”