New toolkit to reduce knife crime

We've produced a guide providing practical and evidence-informed advice on how to reduce local knife crime.

Knife crime – a problem solving guide has been produced in collaboration with the National Police Chiefs' Council and through consultation with 24 police forces and violence reduction units in England and Wales.

Using a problem-solving approach to tackling the issue, the guide contains:

• broad approaches that are effective in tackling knife crime, including good practice from across the UK
• a practical toolkit of tactics to use, such as interventions in schools, weapon sweeps and focused deterrence
• advice on how to use data to tailor a response to local problems

Knife crime is a persistent problem in the UK with significant societal, economic and health implications.

Between 2014 and 2020, the number of violent incidents involving knives or sharp objects rose year-on-year, with 2019/20 witnessing the largest number of police-recorded knife offences in the past decade.

Andy Marsh, Chief Executive of the College of Policing, said:

Knife crime can destroy lives and fracture communities. It disproportionately blights the lives of the young and disadvantaged. After decreasing in the early 2010s, it has risen in recent years. Tackling it must be one of policing’s top priorities.

Andy Marsh, CEO, College of Policing