Op Sceptre - knife crime campaign

As I write this blog, we are starting the second week of Wiltshire Police's Op Sceptre knife crime awareness campaign and amnesty. 

Fortunately, Wiltshire and Swindon doesn't have the level of knife crimes like the larger metropolitan areas of the UK.  In fact the situation here remains very stable, with recorded knife crime only rising seven per cent between June 2018 and June 2019.

This means that knife crime accounts for just 0.63 per cent of all recorded crime for our Force during those 12 months.

However, a rise, albeit it small, is not be ignored and the police here are never complacent.

We may live in a beautiful, leafy part of the world but Swindon and the rest of Wiltshire still suffers the same social issues that the larger conurbations do - deprivation, drugs and violence - a few of the underlying issues which can lead to knife crime.

Partnership working between the police and other agencies is key; working with the Youth Offending Team, schools and colleges to support preventative work. 

Last week we heard about Swindon Borough Council's "Save a Friend" - the joint initiative in secondary schools between police and the council encouraging pupils to look for any signs of exploitation in their friends, and speak up about it if they think something's wrong.

In terms of Op Sceptre, early intervention is crucial - getting to the youngsters before they turn to use a blade.

Earlier this year I oversaw the setting up of a new multi-agency panel for first time young offenders which considers alternative disposals to Youth Cautions - allowing the perpetrator not to be necessarily criminalised but helped to restorative justice in the hope this will save them from entering the criminal justice system.

Another example of how early intervention can help is the Youth Victim Service which my office supports.  They work with under 18-year-old victims of crime helping them recover from their experiences but also, and this is as equally as important, preventing them from turning to crime themselves. For example, if a youngster is threatened with a knife, they may also consider carrying a weapon in future for so called protection - a misguided view but one that is too often real.

At our Junior Good Citizen events - which engages primary school children in a fun and safe learning environment, equipping them with the skills needed for secondary education - the weapons awareness element always goes down well.

Attached to this blog are two video produced by Salisbury Police Cadets (above) and Wiltshire College (below) reflecting the work they have been doing with the police and partners around knife crime.

Of course these schemes help, but there is no one solution to knife crime.  A true multi-agency approach is the only way to tackle this.  However, equally, we all need to take more responsibility for the signs of knife crime in our communities - to spot them early on so they get 'nipped in the bud'.    

The prevention work I support and see going on in and around Wiltshire Police and other agencies continues apace - the main aim is to stop youngsters from making that first flawed step of carrying a knife to threaten, maim or kill.

If one youngster can be made to see the danger of knives, the serious consequences and the devastating ripples caused if used, and then ultimately leaves that weapon alone, then the efforts we are all making to slow and stop this awful type of crime is working.