Safer Langley survey
As part of improving safety in Langley, Thames Valley Police, Safer Slough Partnership, and the community are working with the Home Office to adopt and roll out the College of Policing’s ‘Clear, Hold, Build’ framework. The local name for this project is Safer Langley.
Langley has been identified as a focal point for Clear, Hold, Build due to concerning incidents of serious crime and violence, including two murders of young men within 18 months, instances of serious youth violence and a firearm discharge at a cannabis grow. Additionally, high levels of theft, robbery, and anti-social behaviour, coupled with significant deprivation in the Foxborough Ward, further emphasises the necessity of proactive intervention.
Clear, Hold, Build is a framework to allow a multi-agency approach to tackling and preventing serious and organised crime whilst working more closely with local partners to build resilience in communities and prevent those at risk from being drawn into crime.
Safer Langley is a chance for partners and the community to work together to improve life in Langley by tackling and addressing serious organised crime - building up the area through community initiatives, partnership work and community spirit.
One of the key reasons the Clear, Hold, Build initiative came to Langley was due to a lack of intelligence which allowed crime - including serious violence and homicide - to happen within the community.
Three stages
This activity takes place over three stages and aims to bring communities together as part of a longterm commitment to root out anti-social behaviour and serious and organised crime and, importantly sustain a reduction in crime.
- Clear - initial targeted police activity to ‘clear’ offenders from the area.
- Hold - a period of sustained intervention to ‘hold’ the area free from crime.
- Build - this phase is driven by the community and will focus on prevention and addressing the root causes of ASB and crime.
Clear Hold Build has already been piloted by seven police forces since 2020, improving community resilience to serious and organised crime, but also showing the potential to impact wider crime reduction.