Following piloting a small provision and a combined Police and Ambulance Rapid Response Vehicle provision, the Blackpool Night Safe Haven was piloted on a larger scale during 2011 and later rolled out as a permanent service. The Night Safe Haven is an interagency approach to addressing the increasing number of ambulance call-outs and police activity in the night-time economy.
Watch this short film provided by the Blackpool Night Safe Haven project (4 minutes, 27 seconds) to find out more about the service.
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Blackpool has the highest number of licensed premises outside of Westminster and much of the night-time economy is focused in a small area. The service is open every Saturday night for revellers in the town centre and provides advice and information, immediate first aid, medical care, medical monitoring by nurses and paramedics, and police statement taking. The provision can also provide directions, assist people in finding their hotel/lost friends and so on, and it can provide foil blankets, water, condoms and disposable shoes for women struggling in high heels.
Since the launch of the Night Safe Haven, violent crime (and all crime) has fallen in the night-time economy area during Saturday nights and, although the numbers of people seen by the ambulance service has increased, the numbers transported to hospital have decreased. This enables police and door staff to bring people to the service rather than waiting for an ambulance to arrive and frees them up to carry out their other duties.
The service had over 900 medical and police contacts and more than 2,000 more contacts seeking advice, information or directions and so on. The ambulance carried out 16 fewer journeys to hospital despite an increase of over 124 additional contacts. Violent crime in the area was reduced by 7.1 per cent during the first year's activity.
The joined-up approach to tackling an issue which has an impact on the emergency services, hospitals, local authorities and the public can act as a catalyst for more joined-up approaches to address cross cutting issues. The reduction in demand for police time and resources will enable a police and crime commissioner (PCC) to ensure officers are freed up and available to address true emergencies affecting other members of the authority area. The Night Safe Haven also gives an opportunity for operational staff to communicate with partners and the community.
Further information
For further information, please contact:
Steve Morton
Email: [email protected]