Knife Crime in the UK
Knife Crime is a very serious concern in England and Wales and becoming more and more worrying for parents of teenagers and young adults with the culture of rival gangs and the need to protect themselves.
There has been a 4.7% increase from 2021/22, with approximately 50,500 offences involving a sharp instrument in England & Wales. In the West Midlands the police recorded the highest rate of knife crime, with 178 offences per 100,000 population. In 2022/23 English Hospitals recorded 3,775 assaults by a sharp object.
These statistics highlight the urgency of addressing knife crime through education, awareness and effective law enforcement efforts.
Projects have been set up across the country providing programmes for young people from 13-24 age range. Programmes were selected from a range of organisations including Government, local authorities and police and voluntary community sectors. The programmes include focusing on weapons awareness, positive activities ( such as sport, music and drama) doing volunteer and mentoring work, education and employment prospects.
The Prince’s Trust is a fine example of a project that enables former offenders to become mentors and support young offenders. There are also Community Parent Classes, where young people can come to seek advice and be mentored by other parents and discuss any issues and problems they have.
Most projects visited young people said they carry a knife as they felt afraid others were carrying, so claimed they needed to for self-protection, also because it was seen as fashionable. Both these reasons show the need to run projects and educate young people at an early age to encourage them to lead a different path and focus on something else more worth while and rewarding. It is never too early either as unfortunately the age of young people carry sharp instruments has become younger.
Something needs to change, more work is essential to tackling the problem of knife crime, together we can work toward reducing this to ensure safer communities, less tragic, unnecessary injuries and fatalities and reduced pressure on the NHS.
For more information/help on Knife Crime, please find more guidance on the websites below.
livesafe.org.uk/young-people/knife support