The national crime strategy, Cutting Crime, sets out a strategic framework for tackling crime and increasing community safety through:

• early intervention
• prevention
• enforcement
• reducing reoffending
• tackling key drivers of crime (alcohol and drug misuse and social exclusion).

It acknowledges the contribution that sport makes to early intervention. Early intervention is about tackling risk factors and enhancing protective factors to reduce the number of young people becoming offenders. Sports programmes can engage young people in positive activities that divert them away from anti-social behaviour and crime and help improve their life chances.

The strategy refers to:

• Positive Futures, which uses sport to steer young people towards education, training and employment
• the Kickz football programme, which targets some of the most disadvantaged neighbourhoods in the country.

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