More patrols to tackle serious violence, knife crime and anti-social behaviour (ASB) will be carried out across County Durham and Darlington after the award of a £1m grant.
The extra patrols will be targeted in locations across the region with the highest prevalence of knife crime, serious violence and ASB to deter crime and ensure communities feel confident and safe.
An extra £1million has been secured to carry out the patrols, which will deliver at least 900,000 hours of patrols by police, community support officers (PCSOs) and other visible uniformed presence over the next 12 months.
Latest figures show between January and March this year, more than 3,626 hours of additional patrols were carried out across the force area by Durham Police.
These resulted in 23 arrests, five stop and searches, 42 informal warnings and several civil orders, penalty notices and dispersal notices.
In a recent poll carried out by the Durham Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) Joy Allen, who helped secure the funding, a quarter of residents said policing visibility was a top priority.
The PCC has vowed to identify and tackle ASB hotspots, including those where vehicles are being used illegally.
Ms Allen said: "This is a significant amount of extra funding that will provide visible and ongoing policing activity over the next 12 months in areas prone to serious violence and ASB.
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"It is part of a whole suite of measures being employed to drive these crimes out of our neighbourhoods and provide respite to residents and businesses."
Serious violence accounts for 13% of all crime in the force area and is concentrated within urban centres like Durham City and Darlington Town Centre.
Ms Allen added: "Police visibility is a top priority for one in four residents locally and nowhere is the presence of extra uniformed enforcement more welcomed than in communities that are enduring long-running problems."
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