The Chair of Cleveland Police Authority has today stressed the need to 'strike the right balance between tackling knife crime and recognising the true scale of the problem.'
Councillor Dave McLuckie said it 'helped no-one...neither the police nor the public we serve' to create the impression that Cleveland was a knife crime 'hot spot' when the evidence shows that is not the case.
At the same time he highlighted major initiatives to reduce the carrying of knives -- including a successful 'amnesty which led to over a thousand weapons being handed in, over 200 arrests for carrying offensive weapons as the result of 'stop and search' checks over recent months -- and schools workshops to make young people aware of the consequences of carrying knives.
Said Councillor McLuckie "Obviously we recognise the public concern over the use of knives, but it is all too easy to pick out a limited number of figures to create an impression that knife crime is at a massive scale and out of control. I want to make it clear -- that is not the case in Cleveland...nor will we ever allow it to be.
"The facts are that on the latest available annual figures, for the year 2007/8, out of a total of 22,151 recorded offences involves knives recorded by forces in England and Wales, 169 were in Cleveland...that is well below the numbers recorded in most other 'metropolitan' force areas.
"We are determined to use every opportunity to remove knives from the streets---for example the 'amnesty' campaign last autumn, which was a direct result of suggestions from the Stockton Youth Advisory Group, resulted in over a thousand weapons being handed in and our stop and search activities between October last year and the end of March led to 220 people being arrested for carrying offensive weapons.
"Of course it is vital that we do everything possible to get across to those who might carry knives -- especially young people -- the dangers and the consequences. That is why we are working with partners to develop initiatives such as the 'Be Safe' workshops we have been running in schools in the Stockton which bring home to youngsters in a very direct way the results of knife crime, including the physical reality of being a victim and the impact on families.
"We need the support of all parts of the community in tackling knife crime but it is vital that, in recognising its importance, the facts and figures are presented in a balanced and responsible way."
Added Chief Constable Sean Price "It's certainly not the case that we have a massive problem with knives in Cleveland. We do not have the gangland culture of violence that is seen in other areas of the country and we are determined to keep that out of Cleveland.
"We do however recognise that some young people carry knives and we tackle that particular issue through education in schools around weapons awareness and through initiatives such as the knife amnesty last year, which was driven by young people.
"Sadly we also recognise that knives can be used or threats made to use them in domestic incidents which also accounts for a large number of the offences we record.
"Stop and search is an effective crime fighting tool, but it must be used appropriately. Stop and search must be intelligence led and it must be targeted in order to be effective, which is how it is used currently.
"We also have knife arches and knife wands which we use in partnership with local authorities and licensed premises as a preventative measure.
"While we do have incidents involving knives in the Cleveland area, there are still more incidents than I would like. Violent crime decreased by nearly 17% from April 2008 to March 2009 but we are not complacent and people should be reassured we are doing everything we can to ensure that these reductions continue."