First pioneered on the streets of Boston in the 1990s to address rising gun crime, Focused Deterrence has since been adopted around the world as an effective strategy to reduce serious violence. 

Today, the Youth Endowment Fund (YEF) has published new guidance to help police forces, Violence Reduction Units (VRUs) and statutory services implement Focused Deterrence strategies effectively and equitably in the UK.  

Focused Deterrence is a multi-agency strategy that focuses on individuals or groups involved in violent crime. It combines enforcement — with swift, certain and proportionate consequences for continued violence — with tailored support to address the root causes of offending. Community involvement is also key, providing support to young people, credibility to the programme and a clear message that violence is not acceptable 

Global evidence, highlighted in the YEF Toolkit, shows that this approach can reduce crime by an average of 33%. 

However, as most studies have taken place in the US, the YEF and the Home Office have funded an £8 million programme to test and evaluate how Focused Deterrence can be adapted for the UK.  

Currently being delivered in Coventry, Nottingham, Leicester, Manchester and Wolverhampton, this initiative has been described as “…one of the most ambitious and comprehensive evaluations of focused deterrence ever undertaken.” 

One such programme, the Community Initiative to Reduce Violence (CIRV), run by the West Midlands Violence Reduction Partnership, was recently featured in the BBC One documentary Idris Elba: Our Knife Crime Crisis. 

Drawing on early insights from the YEF and Home Office-funded programme, international research and insight from global experts, the new YEF guidance sets out nine key recommendations. It helps local leaders assess whether Focused Deterrence is right for their area and provides practical steps for effective implementation, supported by real-world case studies from the five programme locations. 

Stevie Jade-Hardy, Head of Change for Policing and Youth Justice at the YEF, said: “Focused Deterrence is an effective strategy for reducing serious violence, but it’s also complex, costly and resource-intensive to implement.  

“Over the past three years, tremendous effort has gone into developing and evaluating the Focused Deterrence programmes now underway in five English cities. This report captures invaluable insights from this ongoing journey, providing practical guidance for police forces and VRUs considering this approach. 

“While there is still much to learn as this long-term programme develops, the publication of this guidance marks a significant step in sharing what works.” 

Steve Harrison, Project Manager at the Nottingham and Nottinghamshire Violence Reduction Partnership, said: “Nottingham and the UK are very different from US cities.  We’ve had to develop ways of delivering a model with deterrence hardwired in, but which helps children and young adults to step away from both violence and the criminal justice system.  We have also worked hard to improve race equity.  By highlighting both the challenges and successes, we hope this guidance will be a valuable resource, helping other areas build on the lessons we’ve learned.” 

Download the guidance 

Alongside its guidance, the YEF has produced several resources to support the delivery of Focused Deterrence, including: 

• Race Equity Implementation Resource 
• Data Intelligence and Insight Resource