A University of Cardiff-designed violence prevention model has been adopted by the Dutch in an effort to reduce violent behaviour.
Set up by Professor Jonathan Shepherd, Professor of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery at the University’s School of Dentistry, the Cardiff Violence Prevention Model is based on information sharing between and joint action by police, councils and emergency departments to curb violence.
Seven hospitals in Amsterdam, the Mayor of Amsterdam, the Ministry of Justice and Ministry of Health, the Amsterdam police force, VeiligheidNL, the health service, health insurance company Achmea and the local council have now signed an agreement to pilot the model in an effort to combat violence.
In 2011 a group which included the Chief Inspector of the Amsterdam police force, spent two days at the University learning about the Cardiff Model and how it has reduced hospital admissions for violence by 42 per cent in the capital when compared with 14 similar cities in England and Wales, by using information obtained from victims who end up in hospital to identify violence hotspots such as street locations, nightclubs, park settings, schools and also victims injured in domestic violence.
Professor Jonathan Shepherd said: “This very welcome development demonstrates the impact of the work of the Violence and Society Research Group and the translation of new discoveries into original practical action, first with police and local government in Cardiff where this model was tested and refined and now in a major world capital.”
Holland is not the first country to follow the Cardiff model. There are also projects in place in the United States, for example in Milwaukie and a similar operation is already going ahead in the Western Cape, South Africa.
The Violence and Society Research Group’s research into violence, alcohol and late-night safety was recognised with a Queen’s Anniversary Prize for excellence in higher education in 2009.
