WIREDGOV

Lynne Owens, Director General of the National Crime Agency yesterday gave a statement on serious violence.

She yesterday said:

“The recent tragic loss of more young lives has caused devastation and highlights the need to urgently tackle the violence epidemic we are seeing. It is more important than ever that we have a cohesive response across law enforcement, government, education, health, and social services.

“Serious violence has many causes, of which serious and organised crime is one. We know that organised criminal networks are a driver for violence and our priority is to disrupt the organised crime groups, in order to eliminate the harm they inflict upon communities.

“We are working with local law enforcement to develop a more detailed intelligence picture and have successfully supported forces on operations to target serious violence, including tackling violent street gangs through our work in the County Lines Coordination Centre.”