Clear, Hold, Build is an innovative framework, developed by the Home Office, to help police forces tackle serious and organised crime.
It reclaims and rebuilds neighbourhoods affected by organised crime, makes areas safer and increases public confidence in the police and partner agencies like the Council and other voluntary and community organisations.
Clear, Hold, Build is a three-step plan which sees organised criminals and their associates cleared from an area through relentless pursuit activity. The area is then held and stabilised through high visibility police patrols, assistance from partner agencies and community support. With support from key stakeholders, residents will be equipped and empowered to build a strong and resilient community, free from crime and exploitation.
Clear
Interventions, in form of arrests and relentless disruption, which target organised crime group members, their networks, business interests, criminality and spheres of influence.
The police will use all powers and levers to impede their ability to operate. This creates safer spaces to begin restoring community confidence.
Hold
Interventions, counter measures and contingency plans to consolidate and stabilise the initial clear phase. This stops the remaining or other organised crime group members from capitalising on the vacuum created. It improves community confidence by ensuring spaces remain safe. Visible neighbourhood policing in hotspot areas provides continuing reassurance that police are still present.
Build
A single, whole-system approach to delivering community-empowered interventions that tackle drivers of crime, exploitation of vulnerabilities and geographic places where crime occurs. This improves living, working and recreational environment in the community for residents. It empowers them to work with stakeholders to generate resilience and build a safer community.
Ipswich Borough Council are working alongside the Police on a Clear, Hold, Build project which is the first in Ipswich, and one of three in Suffolk.
Maple Together
Named by local residents, the Ipswich Clear Hold Build area is now known as Maple Together.
It focuses on the Gipping and Westgate wards in the town and encompasses an area west of the town centre, bordered by Norwich Road and Bramford Road in the north, Yarmouth Road in the west and West End Road in the South.
Superintendent Andy Martin said: “The aim is to rid our streets of serious and organised crime and leave more resilient communities as a result. We know what damage can be done to an area by a relatively small number of criminals, and the effects anti-social behaviour, violence and the supply of drugs have on a community.”
The project is being run jointly by police and partners. Suffolk Constabulary and Ipswich Borough Council are jointly leading the tactic, supported by other key agencies.
Find out more
To see the outcomes of Clear, Hold, Build in Ipswich, you can find updates on the Suffolk Police website - https://www.suffolk.police.uk/police-forces/suffolk-constabulary/areas/campaigns/campaigns/clear-hold-build/
Get Involved
If you work in the area and you've not yet been approached to join forces in the Build phase of the programme, please let the Communities team know of your interest by emailing communities@ipswich.gov.uk and the team can link you to the right teams and interventions depending on your specialisms.