In 2020, the Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) commissioned the Crime & Well-Being Big Data Centre (BDC) to become its research and evaluation partner. Since this time, the BDC, now fully integrated into the Policy Evaluation & Research Unit , has undertaken a range of projects centred on assessing the nature and extent of violence, its causes and consequences in the Greater Manchester region. It has also undertaken numerous evaluations of interventions, launched by the Violence Reduction Unit (VRU) to prevent violent crime.

These research and evaluation activities have included:

The development of dynamic violent crime profiles for the VRU and its partners.

Rapid Evidence Assessments designed to inform the development of violence prevention activities.

National and international comparisons of the trends in, and drivers of violent crime.

Logic modelling of the VRU and of partner / individual interventions.

The development of tools to shape risk prioritisation and resource allocation.

The design and implementation of the evaluation of the VRU and its interventions (e.g., The hospital-based Navigators programme, The Prosecution, Intervention, Education and Diversion pilot programme).

The delivery of research outputs to meet the needs of the VRU, its partners and communities in Greater Manchester.