Just how bad is it?
Knife crime continues to be a significant concern: There were more than 47,000 Police-recorded offences involving a knife or sharp instrument in the 12 months to September 2020. Offences involving knives or sharp instruments have been rising since the year ending March 2014, although in recent years the rate of increase has slowed. There were 248 knife-related deaths in that same period. [1] London has the highest volume of knife crime, with more than 13,500 offences recorded in the last year.
These figures are harrowing and have been moving in the wrong direction. Arguably the problem is growing and mutating; it’s beginning to affect younger people more than before (as well as adults), and sometimes those with no connection to criminality or a background of neglect.
There is a devastating human cost - both to individuals and communities - but the economic costs are also huge. The combined economic and social cost of youth violence more broadly is an estimated £780 million a year, and knife crime is a major factor in that. [2]
What can be done?
The role of central government
From a central government perspective, legislation and funding are areas where it can meaningfully intervene.
When it comes to legislation, there is a commitment now to a public health approach to serious youth violence – including tackling knife crime. The Youth Violence Commission’s report published in July 2020 made a series of recommendations for combatting youth violence . The recommendations centered around the need for a public health approach for reducing youth violence [3].The Home Office’s consultation in 2019 on a new legal duty to ‘support a multi-agency approach to preventing and tackling serious violence’ resulted in overwhelming support from those working in the sector to implement some sort of legal duty. Support was largely split between either one on specific organisations to have due regard to the prevention and tackling of serious violence or through legislating to revise Community Safety Partnerships (which would commit organisations to become members of a Community Safety Partnership rather than placing a duty on specified organisations to prevent and tackle serious violence. And fast forward to the present day, the Police, Crime and Sentencing Bill includes the statutory duty.
When it comes to funding, millions have been poured into the regional Violence Reduction Units (including the most recent £35 million extra funding announced in February). [4] Here at Catch22 we’ve benefited from London VRU funding for our Social Switch Project – which educates professionals working with young people on how to spot the signs of online harm, such as grooming and gang exploitation. Indeed, investing in prevention is far more likely to result in long term change. The £200 million Youth Endowment Fund is designed to support local initiatives to prevent young people becoming involved in violent crime.[5] Robust evaluation of programmes to learn what works and what doesn’t is vital so the very best can be replicated elsewhere.
The local approach
This emphasis on local solutions is likely to prove most successful. The world of violent crime is fast moving. Those working directly with young people who are at risk, are involved in violent crime or have come through the other side, are far more likely to be able to devise solutions that will work. There are some excellent examples of peer-support and advocacy initiatives that are starting to see real results. [6] Cash needs to be directed close to the root causes of the problem.
[1] Knife Crime Statistics | The Ben Kinsella Trust
[2] YVC-Final-Report-July-2020.pdf(yvcommission.com)
[3] YVC-Final-Report-July-2020.pdf(yvcommission.com)
[4] £35.5mto support young people at risk of involvement in serious violence - GOV.UK(www.gov.uk)
[6] Tackling Knife Crime conference, 6 February 2020 | Local Government Association
Fighting Knife Crime - London
High level policy making – including such as the public health statutory duty – can be blunt instruments, that don’t guarantee local action and collaboration. This is why 'Fighting Knife Crime- London' is so important.
Focussing initially on Greater London activity, it will pool information and gather insights and intelligence that can be shared locally, regionally and ultimately even more widely. It is a central repository of everything – and everybody – working hard on this agenda. It will make it easier for those working on defeating violent crime, to share information and collaborate with others to use the resources at their disposal more effectively. It has the ability to link up the good work that’s taking place across the capital and make a real dent in the crime figures, saving lives and livelihoods.
We hope that 'Fighting Knife Crime -London' will become an incredibly useful resource for our staff working directly with those at risk, or involved, in knife crime.
Ultimately, we want to see fewer young people being caught in a trap where they carry a knife because they feel it is more of a risk to them than not doing so – or witnessing their friends being stabbed. That shift will take concerted political and regional and local action. 'Fighting Knife Crime - London' has the potential to play a significant role in making this a practical reality.
