OPCC ANNUAL REPORT
Partnership approach to knife crime paying dividends but still no room for complacency
Following a spike in knife-related incidents in 2016, knife crime currently counts for less than one per cent of crime in the county. Recorded incidents in Gloucestershire, defined by the Home Office as ‘knife crime’ over the last three years, were well below those for the rest of the country. During that period, ‘knife crime’ accounted for just 0.85% of all crime in the county. Around 20% was defined as ‘domestic abuse’ and the number of incidents involving young people was in single figures. Gloucestershire’s Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) Martin Surl described it as justification for the approach taken by his office two years ago, when Deputy PCC Chris Brierley brought together representatives from the local criminal justice, health,
education, social and political sectors whose brief was to find a more sustainable approach to tackling youth violence. Mr. Surl said: “Two years ago, when we were faced with serious issues around county lines drug dealing and the needless loss of young lives, we decided on a more radical partnership approach, rather like the Government has also now adopted. “The knife crime summit involved Gloucester’s MP, a crown court judge and representatives from health, criminal justice, education and social sectors. As a result, ‘Safer Gloucestershire’ made it a priority to develop a whole county approach to tackling the problem”. Kate Langley, strategic lead for youth justice in Gloucestershire, said: “There is no quick-fix solution
82 | September 2019 | www. punchline-gloucester .com
Made with FlippingBook Ebook Creator