Young people most at risk of carrying knives are being targeted in the ongoing fight against violent crime in the North East, with Northumbria Police and Crime Commissioner Susan Dungworth stressing that money must be put back into services for young people to keep communities safe.
It has been almost four years since the region was rocked by a spate of stabbings that saw three young people lose their lives in just four months. The deaths of teenagers Gordon Gault, Tomasz Oleszak and Holly Newton sparked fears that the youth knife crime epidemic gripping other major UK cities could have reached the North East.
PCC's priorities and concerns
Tackling serious violence and organised crime remains one of Ms Dungworth's key priorities as she refreshes her Police and Crime Plan. She said the North East is fortunate not to have the same levels of serious violence as other cities, but warned against complacency.
"I think we are fortunate in the North East that we don't have the levels of serious some other cities have. But we do have some. Most of it is middle-aged white men against against other middle-aged white men," she said.
"We don't have a large knife crime gang culture, but that isn't to say there aren't young people that carry knives and will carry knives if they think it protects them. Trends take a long time to get to the North East. We can never afford to sit there and say we are not like other cities. It could happen to anyone, and we don't want to wait until it does."
Family-led awareness and intervention
Ms Dungworth praised the work of the families of murder victims Samantha Madgin and Connor Brown, who have used their own pain to raise awareness of the dangers of carrying knives. Through Samantha's Legacy and the Connor Brown Trust, both families tell the story of their heartbreaking losses to show young people the realities of knife violence.
She said targeted intervention work is essential with young people most at risk of being drawn into violent crime, particularly those excluded from school or on the verge of being expelled.
"Our Violence Reduction Unit (VRU) does some important intervention work with young people who have carried knives who are on the path of that serious violence," she said. "It's that kind of thing that's very focused on that minority. This needs to keep going."
The VRU works with the Connor Brown Trust to deliver its Trainee Detective Programme, an immersive week-long programme mirroring the real-life investigation into 18-year-old Connor's murder in Sunderland city centre in 2019. Ms Dungworth said the change in young people involved is visible by the end of the week, and it is essential to keep working with those not at school, as they are most vulnerable to being drawn into violence or recruited by criminals.
Funding youth services
Ms Dungworth believes putting money back into services for young people is essential to get a true grip on youth violence.
"There's other things as well. For me it's no coincidence that we stopped funding youth services then saw an increase in young people being involved in real serious crime," she said. "We need to put money back into good quality youth services and look at schools and exclusions."
