Knife crime fight gets extra funding
Monday, 10 November, 2008
Thames Valley Police has been granted extra money to help in the fight against knife crime.
As just one of ten forces from England and Wales to be chosen to receive support from the Home Office, Thames Valley will be focusing on using the £150,000 to fund preventative work in collaboration with the New Destiny Trust in schools across Buckinghamshire, Berkshire and Oxfordshire.
A portion of the money has already been used to boost stocks of search arches and wands to increase the number of proactive anti-knife operations at key places such as nightclubs, schools and railway stations.
DCC Francis Habgood, who leads for the Force on knife crime, said, "We are fortunate in the Thames Valley not to have seen huge numbers of knife-related incidents but should not be complacent. The opportunity to have additional funds to tackle the issue is welcome news.
"We intend to get across the message that knives will not be tolerated on our streets. It is important to do this face-to-face, particularly with those young people who are most likely to feel the need to carry a knife.
"Following the success of a joint approach last year, we were extremely pleased to be working with New Destiny Trust once again. The project received positive feedback from teachers, pupils and parents alike but was only able to run for a relatively short period."
The scheme sees schools hosting police officers and experienced youth mentors for a day. Pupils are shown a search arch and learn about police procedure around searching for weapons before taking part in an interactive knife crime education session led by New Destiny Trust's youth workers. They are also told how they can pass on information about knives and who to go to for personal safety advice.
