Preventing knife crime
Speaking to a child or young person about knife crime can be daunting. However, starting an open and frank conversation talking about weapons and the associated risks, can help to assess their awareness, bust some common myths and improve their understanding of the seriousness of the problem.
- Using a recent news event can act as a conversation starter
- Find a time to chat comfortably – the conversation needs to take place wherever they feel safest
- Be non-judgemental and empathic
- Don’t expect or demand them to talk; if they do, be patient and try not to react straight away to what they tell you
- Show them that they are being listened to
- Encourage them to share their fears
- Be open about your fears
- Reassure them that the vast majority of young people don’t carry a knife
- Give them the voice in this conversation and don’t rush to give advice that they may not be ready to hear
- Discuss knives and how you both feel about them being used – remind them that you are there to listen and support them
- Discuss the impact and help them reflect on how their actions could affect the people that care for them the most. If they were injured, who will be affected?
- Explain that they can always report their concerns about anyone carrying a knife anonymously through Fearless or Crime Stoppers
- If you start the conversation, be prepared to hear answers you might not like
- Remind them that you are always open to continue the conversation at any time
Early intervention and prevention programmes are aimed at changing norms and values towards violence at a young age. In the UK, these programmes are typically aimed at children aged 13 and over. However, there are calls by charities such as the Ben Kinsella Trust for programmes to work with children as young as eight, due to the increasing number of children carrying knives.
Some examples of beneficial early intervention programmes include:
Child skills training – this is aimed at preventing anti-social behaviour. It is usually carried out within a school setting and targets children aged 4 to 18 years old. Some programmes are aimed at all children within a school cohort, while others target children who had already shown signs of anti-social behaviour or been identified as being at risk of so doing.
Social skills training for children involves delivery of a structured programme with a limited number of sessions, teaching non-aggressive modes of, for example:
- Social perception
- Self-control
- Anger management
- Victim empathy
- Interpersonal problem-solving
- Interaction with other people
- Related skills
Overall, the evidence suggests that child social skills training leads to a decrease in anti-social behaviour.
Mentoring – the mentoring may be between a youth and an adult, or between peers, and mentoring interventions should involve at least weekly contact between mentor and mentee.
The idea is that the mentee is in a position to imitate and benefit from the knowledge, skill, ability or experience of the mentor. The mentor may provide practical assistance, such as with job applications, teaching or training, as well as emotional support for the mentee to help increase self-esteem and confidence.
The mentee identifies with the mentor, which can help with motivation and behaviour. The mentor is able to help and support by providing information or teaching to help the mentee manage social, educational, legal, family and peer challenges. The emotional support and friendship that mentoring provides helps to promote self-efficacy, confidence, and sense of self-worth.
Some evidence suggests a reduction in reoffending seen amongst participants of mentoring programmes compared to those who are not on any programmes.
After-school programmes – these are organised activities targeted at children and young people who would otherwise be unoccupied or unsupervised after school hours. These programmes are often voluntary and can include recreation-based activities, drop-in clubs and tutoring services delivered after school.
Programmes that include structured activities targeted at a particular skill set provide children and young people with additional resources and time to develop positive attributes, knowledge and social networks. They also provide a safe and structured environment to reduce unstructured time that can lead to anti-social behaviours.
After-school programmes are expected to reduce delinquency by increasing formal supervision, providing academic support and promoting social skills to children and young people.
Pulling levers – these are focused police deterrence strategies that target prolific or repeat offenders. These strategies combine strict enforcement with improved access to support, sometimes called a carrot and stick approach.
A relatively small number of offenders are responsible for a disproportionate amount of crime and these offenders are often involved in gangs and criminally active groups. Pulling levers identifies key offenders, communicating directly with those offenders and developing a range of support options. These include access to services, community engagement and criminal justice processes, with a view to reducing offending behaviour for specific crime types including knife crime. Pulling levers seek to change offender behaviour by better understanding why individuals are committing crimes and what conditions sustain recurring crime problems.
Overall, the evidence suggests that focused deterrence strategies have reduced crime.
Restorative justice – this brings those harmed by crime or conflict and those responsible for the harm into communication, enabling everyone affected by a particular incident to play a part in repairing the harm and finding a positive way forward.
Restorative justice can only take place if both the offender and victim are willing and if the offender accepts responsibility for the harm caused. There is no requirement for the offender to show remorse or apologise in order for a restorative justice intervention to occur.
According to the Restorative Justice Council, restorative justice can be used for any crime, at any time in the criminal justice process. This includes restorative justice as a diversion from prosecution, or at the pre- or post-sentencing stages.
Restorative justice can take a number of different forms. It can involve a face-to-face meeting between the victim and offender or other forms of communication, such as letters, video recordings or communication through a facilitator. The process must involve two-way communication between the victim and offender, either directly or indirectly.
Typical restorative justice interventions include one of the following approaches:
- Victim-offender conferences – these involve a face-to-face meeting between victim and offender led by a trained facilitator. Supporters for both parties can attend; these are usually family members.
- Community conferencing – these are similar to a victim-offender conference but include members of the community affected by the crime.
- Indirect communication – this is sometimes referred to as Shuttle Restorative Justice, and involves messages being passed between the victim(s) and offender by a trained facilitator. The participants do not meet and messages are passed via letter, video or audio.
For young people, restorative justice can be used for early intervention, targeting young people who are vulnerable to committing crimes in the future. Restorative justice can work in schools, in residential units and in the community, to enable young people to resolve conflict in a positive way to improve their own lives and save police resources.
Alongside the three forms of restorative justice listed above, restorative justice can be used for youth offenders at the following stages:
- Community resolution – in some areas of the UK, police are trained to use community resolutions, which include facilitating street negotiations to diffuse a situation immediately after a crime has occurred. The offender can apologise and no further action is taken.
- Youth conditional caution – this is a formal out-of-court disposal (OOCD) that comes with a compulsory assessment and intervention in the form of a condition. These conditions can be reparative, rehabilitative or punitive. Restorative justice interventions can form one of the conditions of the caution. If the offender fails to adhere to the condition, they can be prosecuted for the original offence.
- Referral order – young offenders who plead guilty are referred to a panel of community volunteers and a Youth Offending Team. Either the victim attends or someone attends on their behalf. A contract lasting between three months and a year is agreed, which can involve a commitment to restorative justice, to resolve the harm caused by the offender and address their behaviour.
- Youth rehabilitation order – a community sentence including one or more requirements (there are 18 possible requirements in total) that they must abide by for up to three years. Restorative justice is included as one of these possible requirements. Other examples of requirements include curfews, voluntary unpaid work, drug or mental health treatment and education requirements.
- During or after a custodial sentence – restorative justice can also be delivered to young offenders within a youth offending institution or after their release from custody.
Research has found that for victims who have been through restorative justice, post-traumatic stress symptoms in victims were reduced, compared to those victims whose cases were only dealt with in court. Repeat offending was also generally reduced in seriousness and frequency.
Knife amnesties, also known as knife surrender schemes, aim to remove weapons from the street by providing bins or collection points where people can drop them off. Collection points are typically placed in easily accessible locations such as supermarkets, high streets, community venues, or police stations.
Knife surrender schemes are often delivered alongside other activities such as:
- Awareness campaigns, including reminders about the list of weapons that are illegal for private possession, and the risks and consequences of carrying weapons
- Education and training related to knife crime
- Police initiatives in areas with higher rates of weapon use, such as hot spots policing, increased use of stop and search, actively monitored CCTV and street lighting
Analysis of police-recorded crime data in London found that knife-related offences declined for five weeks following a knife surrender scheme, but the rate returned to pre-scheme levels after eight weeks.
As we have previously seen in this course, young people surveyed for Lives Not Knives, thought that knife amnesties were of limited value because knives were so easy to get hold of that people could just get another knife.
Stop and search is a police power that has the potential to reduce crime through either of the following:
- Immediate detection or confiscation of a weapon
- Deterrence by raising the perceived risk of detection
Suspicion-based stop and search applies to individuals. It allows a police officer to stop and search an individual if they have ‘reasonable grounds’; that is, when they genuinely think an individual is linked to criminal activity such as suspecting that they are carrying illegal drugs, a weapon such as a knife, stolen property, or something which could be used to commit a crime, such as a crowbar.
Being stopped and searched doesn’t mean a person is being arrested. The stop and search must be carried out according to strict rules, and the police have the responsibility to ensure that people’s rights are protected.
These safeguards include codes of practice within the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 (PACE) and the use of Body Worn Video to eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment and victimisation, as well as to take steps to foster good relations with individuals and ensure the welfare of all under the age of 18.
Section 60 of the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 allows a police officer to stop and search a person without suspicion. A person can only be stopped and searched without reasonable grounds if it has been approved by a senior police officer.
This can happen if it is suspected that:
- Serious violence could take place
- The person is carrying a weapon or has used one
- The person is in a specific location or area
A police officer might stop a person and ask:
- What their name is
- What they are doing in the area
- Where they are going
Before a person is searched, the police officer must tell them:
- Their name and police station
- What they expect to find, for example drugs, a weapon etc.
- The reason they want to search them, for example if it looks as if the person is hiding something
- Why they are legally allowed to search the person
- That the person can have a record of the search and if this isn’t possible at the time, how they can get a copy
The police can ask a person to take off their outer coat, jacket and gloves. Anything more, and they must take them to a police station, or out of public view to somewhere private.
If the police don’t take reasonable steps to comply with these rules, the search may be considered unlawful.
To carry out a stop and search the police must have a genuine suspicion and it must be based on ‘reasonable grounds’.
Reasonable grounds is what an ordinary person would think was fair if they had all the information the police officer has. A person cannot be stopped for no reason and a person should not be stopped because of their physical appearance, or the fact that they belong to a particular category of people or have a criminal record.
If a section 60 authorisation has been granted, there is little the person can do to prevent the police from carrying out this type of stop and search.
However, the police need to explain that a section 60 authorisation is in force and what they can do under this power. A person is still entitled to a written statement that they have been stopped and searched under section 60 if they apply within one year.
The main reason the police use stop and search is to allow officers to investigate their suspicions about an individual without having to arrest them. However, stop and search can disproportionately affect some communities and groups.
It is important that people, especially young people, are aware of their rights in the event of a stop and search.
The main rights that protect people in stop and search are:
- The officers searching a person must use the stop and search powers fairly, responsibly and with respect for people without discriminating
- If English is not their first language, and they do not understand why they have been stopped, reasonable steps must be taken to provide them with information in their own language
- The officer must keep the search time to a minimum
- The search must take place near to where a person is stopped, except in instances where moving them would protect their privacy
- The officer does not have the power to detain a person in order to find grounds for a search
When they stop and search someone, the police still have to do it fairly and respect the person’s rights under the Equality Act 2010.
Most educational interventions seek to ensure that young people have a greater awareness of the issues relating to knife crime. These include:
- Awareness of the potential impact of knife crime for all parties involved, including the physical, emotional and legal consequences
- Awareness of the sanctions if caught carrying a weapon
- Awareness that carrying a weapon actually increases the risk of being victimised
These educational interventions should form part of a sustained effort to reassure young people, and adults, that their fears are taken seriously, and efforts are being made to ensure their safety.
Research suggests that those who deliver an educational programme about knives should have a healthy knowledge of the issue. This helps to ensure that the young people in receipt of the programme respect the person delivering the programme, and so give the programme its deserved attention. Experiences may include being a former knife carrier or being a victim of a knife offence. Some programmes are run by the police in schools and colleges.
Most local councils and many community groups provide knife crime preventative interventions; for example, the Home Office’s Community Fund piloted different approaches to providing preventative interventions to help children and young people avoid involvement in youth violence and knife crime. Projects took place in the Royal London Borough of Greenwich, London Borough of Tower Hamlets, Ipswich, and Leeds/Bradford. Programmes were delivered to children and young people in a variety of settings including primary and secondary schools, alternative education providers, youth centres and community groups.
Organisations such as Neighbourhood Watch provide communities with resources such as the serious violence campaign toolkit which includes:
- Online resources
- Facebook pages
- A PowerPoint presentation that people can use to host a public meeting to raise awareness in their community about the dangers of knife crime and how to prevent it
- A range of free campaign materials that people can use to inform and educate people in their neighbourhood
If a friend or family member has been a victim of knife crime then you, or someone close to your friend or family member, should contact the police if they have not already been notified. If they have been threatened but not injured, it is still a matter for the police and should be reported.
Experiencing a crime can have a significant impact on a person’s mental and emotional well-being. Depending on what type of incident they have been involved in, it may be an upsetting and overwhelming time for them. They may be experiencing many types of emotion:
- In shock
- Distress
- Fear
- Anger
- Denial (pretending it didn’t happen)
- Pain
- Loneliness
- Stress
- Depression
There are a few simple things you can do to support them:
- Let them speak – reassure them you are there for them. Listen calmly if they want to talk and try not to interrupt. Avoid phrases such as “it could be much worse” as it is not helpful to the person you are supporting. It can minimise what they have been through and can seem dismissive of their feelings.
- Believe them – victims may feel ashamed, embarrassed, or worried they will be judged, blamed or won’t be believed. Tell them that you believe them, and that it’s not their fault.
- Don’t pressure them – if they don’t want to talk or aren’t ready to, give them time. They may open up to you over time, or you could suggest other people or support services they might feel more comfortable with.
- Reassure them – let them know whatever they are feeling is normal. There is no right or wrong way to feel, everyone responds differently. Reassure them they are not alone, and they don’t have to deal with this on their own.
- Ask how they would like to be supported and try not to be upset if they need to be alone or want time to themselves without your help.
- Try not to be angry on their behalf – although you may feel frustrated and protective over the person, it is important to not overwhelm them or add to their stress.
There are a number of organisations that offer specialist services and support for knife crime, including, but not limited to:
- Emotional support
- Counselling
- Information and advice
- Finding somewhere safe to stay
- Finding someone to speak for you and get the help you need
- Specialist support for crimes, including domestic abuse and sexual violence
These services can play a vital role in supporting and diverting young people from serious youth violence and knife crime. They can also provide support to victims of knife crime. Many of the charities and organisations listed provide resources and will often speak at events to raise awareness of the dangers of violent crime.
The organisations include, but are not limited to:
The Ben Kinsella Trust – free learning resources and information for parents, teachers, practitioners, and young people.
Lives Not Knives – youth-led charity that works to prevent knife crime, serious youth violence and school exclusions.
Victim Support – a national charity which helps people affected by crime.
Youth Endowment Fund – prevent children and young people from becoming involved in violence.
Fearless – a service that allows young people to pass on information about crime 100% anonymously.
Barnardo’s – for those aged 11–19 addressing experiences of gangs and serious youth violence, also providing support to young women experiencing these issues.
Anti Knife Crime Campaign– provides advice, ideas, support and resources for local anti-knife crime.
Youth Justice Services – they work with young people who get into trouble with the law or to help them stay away from crime.
PACT – is a national charity that provides support to prisoners, people with convictions, and their families.
The Prince’s Trust – support for families and young people (11–30 years old).
Crimestoppers – an independent charity that gives you the power to speak up to stop crime, 100% anonymously. Telephone: 0800 555 111
The Police – you should call 101 to report crime and other concerns that do not require an emergency response. Call 999 in an emergency.
Many local councils have introduced Violence Reduction Networks (VRN), adopting the public health approach to reducing violence. The approach takes a holistic view of both violence and coercion, based on evidence that no single factor can explain why some people or groups are at higher risk of interpersonal violence, while others are more protected from it.
Violence Reduction Networks are made up of a number of partners from across public services and the third sector and represent youth offending teams, schools and colleges, public health, police, children’s social care, probation, community safety partnerships, Police and Crime Commissioners (PCC), the local council and the NHS.