VIOLENCE and the people who commit it will be targeted it in a police war against a growing scourge on south Warwickshire streets.

Operation Impact on Violence was launched on Tuesday after officers agreed it was time to challenge Warwickshire's statistical position as safest place in the country as long as it meant hidden violent crime could be dragged into the open.

In recent weeks Stratford's sleepy market town image has been rocked by a rape, two sexual assaults and a number of alcohol-fuelled street brawls.

The operation follows the tremendous success of Operation Impact on Burglary earlier this year, an initiative that saw the number of break-ins reduced thanks to a highly visible police presence on the street.

The aims of this operation are different, however, as they may push the crime figures up but, said acting assistant chief constable Derek Cake, in the long-run it will help to stop people being afraid to venture outdoors at night.

The police have linked up with a number of partner organisations, such as local councils, the education authority, Victim Support, the Community Safety Unit and volunteer organisations, in a bid to discover what really goes on behind closed doors.

"Warwickshire may be the safest place to live on paper, but there is a lot of unreported crime and we want to bring that into the open and find out exactly how much violence there really is," said Asst Chf Const Cake.

The force and its partners will poll schoolchildren, log all violence-related calls and issue questionnaires to discover who has experienced violent crime and how much really goes on.

"There are many incidents of unreported crime, men aged between 16 and 24 are the most likely to be involved in violence, but we don't get many reports, and domestic violence," said Mr Cake.

"The figures for reporting domestic incidents has risen from one in 10 to three in 10, but that is still not enough for us to have the full picture."

There will also be a number of high-profile policing initiatives, similar to those run during Operation Impact I, aimed at nipping fights, muggings, sexual assaults and other violence in the bud and increasing detection rates.

The operation is due to end on January 1 next year, and after that, said Mr Cake, the police will collate all the information they have gathered and develop strategies based on their findings.

"We want to increase the public's confidence and make sure they are able to walk the streets without fear and to do that, we may have to see an increase in crime figures but it means we will know the full extent of what we are dealing with," he said.