A new crime-busting partnership is to be launched this week when the police, City of York Council and major public and private sector organisations harness their efforts to crack down on crime in the city.

The ground-breaking scheme, heralded by the police and the council as "the most important crime prevention initiative ever in York" will build on work done under the Safer Cities initiative and aims to reduce crime, disorder and the fear of crime.

Superintendent Jim Kilmartin, of York Police, said the Safer York Partnership marked a new era in crime-fighting and would have a positive impact on the lives of everyone who lives and works in the city.

"At the moment there are many different threads like the Crime Prevention Panel, Neighbourhood Watch and Safer Cities in the picture," he said.

"Now we have the chance to pull them all together and reweave the fabric of the community by tackling all the various sources of crime.

"Through this new initiative we will be able to make a substantial impact on crime in the city by working in partnership with many other interested organisations."

Both the council and the police are stumping up £30,000 to fund the first year of the partnership when its key objectives will be to:

Carry out a "crime audit" to find out what types of crime is being carried out in the city and where.

Come up with a strategy to make communities safer and set targets for reducing crime.

Set up task forces to tackle specific problem areas such as drugs, alcohol and property crime.

The official launch will take place at the Forte Post Hotel, in York, on Friday, when business leaders will have the new scheme outlined to them and be invited to sign up in support of it by joining the Safer York Partnership Advisory Board.

They will also be given a presentation on the new Crime and Disorder Bill, which gives the council new powers to stamp out anti-social behaviour by taking offenders before the courts.

It also requires the police and the council to work more closely together and involved a wide range of organisations within the community to devise and develop a crime fighting strategy.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.