Police hail success in 'removing more knives off the streets' as crime reports fall

A total of 3,732 knife crimes were recorded by Greater Manchester Police (GMP) in the 12 months up to August, down 15.2 per cent from 4,400 the year before.

Reports of wider serious violence offences, including robbery and violence with injury, were down four per cent, from 37,092 to 35,397 incidents.

This follows the launch of Operation Venture in December, which aims to tackle the threat of serious violence and knife crime.

From June 1 to August 21, 83 arrests, 71 positive stop-searches, 15 weapon seizures, 197 intelligence submissions and 22 disruption visits were made under the initiative.

Insp Jon Ezard said: “What this shows is that Op Venture is working and we are removing more knives off the streets.

“Our dedicated team of officers are using proactive police work – high-visibility patrols, targeted patrols to hot-spot locations and community engagement have helped to solidify our connections with local people, who feel safer in reporting knife-related matters to us.

“Renewed Violence Reduction Unit focus and additional investment has been made through Operation Venture, with stop-search increases and targeting of profiled offenders and hot-spots.

“We are continuing public education and engagement programmes by working with people such as Paul McGovern, from HMP Manchester, who works within the prison community team, which engages with children in local schools to break the cycle of children being peer-pressured into local crime gangs and subsequently being imprisoned when they are adults.

“I would like to thank all our partners for working with us and helping us continue to tackle knife crime. This collaborative effort is yielding significant results and statistics and is helping to improve the lives for people in our communities.”

The figures were released on the same day the Home Office announced it would be progressing with changes to knife crime legislation, with five proposals including: a ban on certain types of machetes and knives; new police powers to seize and destroy lawfully held bladed articles in private premises if they believe they could be used in serious crime or violence; and increasing the maximum penalty for importing, manufacturing, selling and supplying prohibited and dangerous weapons and the sale of knives to under 18s.

Commander Stephen Clayman, National Police Chiefs’ Council knife crime lead, said: “The proposals in the consultation followed extensive collaboration between the Home Office and the NPCC national knife crime working group. Together, we worked to develop practical, sustainable solutions to remove these lethal weapons from our streets.

“These five proposals will all offer additional robust measures to deal with those who seek to use knives for violence. Ultimately, when used appropriately, they provide a greater means to protect the public and safeguard our communities.

“Every day as police officers we see first-hand the devastating effects of these deadly weapons on the lives of individuals, particularly young people, and we must always look at what action can be taken to prevent access to knives that are used for violence, intimidation and harm.

“We look forward to working with Government on the next steps for making these proposals a reality, strengthening our fight against knife crime.”