Ron Hogg, Durham Police and Crime Commissioner, has announced Durham will receive £0.7million over two years from the Home Office for three projects.
The first project will be to tackle domestic violence.  The second project will be to introduce a new initiative which offers an alternative to prosecution for offenders, known as Checkpoint. The third grant will be to support the introduction of a multi-agency responder scheme within the Dales.
Mr Hogg said: “This is excellent news.  Domestic violence is an under reported issue that causes misery for people and I am pleased that the Force will be able to use this funding to help tackle it.  Durham has previously been praised by Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary for the way it handles domestic abuse and this grant will strengthen work in this area for the benefit of victims.
“In relation to the Checkpoint project, I have previously announced this as Durham leads the way in tackling offenders. It is believed to be the first of its kind in the Country.
The project will involve offering offenders a chance to engage with services to help to turn their lives around and address the root causes of their offending rather than go through the criminal justice system.  However, if they break their contract they will of course face prosecution.
“In respect of the multi-agency responder scheme, this again shows our commitment to work in innovative ways with our colleagues from the other emergency services to ensure we continue to provide a quality service to our rural communities in the face of reducing budgets.”