Merseyside Police: Let's talk about knife crime

We know knife crime is a concern in our communities. We also know that it is not something that we can tackle alone or overnight.

But a lot of hard work, planning and resources are put into the work we do every single day and most of it isn’t publically seen.

This week (March 11th to 17th) we are taking part in a national week of action to publically demonstrate the work we are doing and to ask for your help in sharing important messages and having conversations with those most at risk from knife crime.

During this week you may see us carrying out stop searches, open land searches and weapon sweeps or see knife amnesty bins in police stations. You may even spot our high visibility patrols using knife arches or wands at key times in busy locations or see our officers linking in with door-staff and licensed premises.

But did you know we also speak to young people in schools and colleges, organise diversionary activities and social media campaigns aimed at children, carry out test purchases of knives and contact known knife crime offenders?

We also regularly meet with our partners in local authorities, schools, probation, charities and the medical profession to share intelligence and ideas.

Inspector Andy Creer said: "A lot of work goes on behind the scenes to address the issue of knife crime and what can be done about it but one of the most important tools we have is education. Most people probably don’t realise that carrying a knife can make a young person up to 60% more likely to become a victim of knife crime themselves.

"Nobody wants to be a statistic and I want to appeal directly to parents and guardians - talk to your children about knife crime, educate them of the dangers and help us to make it socially unacceptable for ANYONE to carry a knife when they go out.

"Anyone who chooses to pick up a knife could be throwing away their lives and destroying the lives of others. Merseyside has seen at first hand the tragedy of knife crime and the effect it can have on the victims, the knife crime offenders and the families left behind. Nobody wants that knock on the door from the police so please, have that conversation with your loved ones. "I want to reassure our communities that we will continue our work day in and day out and we are committed to getting rid of the problem of knife crime by working closely with our partners to help prevent and disrupt criminal activity.

"We will also continue to act on information reported to us through local policing teams or community leaders. "But this is not a problem that Merseyside Police can tackle alone and we need everyone to be involved.

"If you know someone is carrying a knife then speak to us or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111 and help us to finally stamp out this problem.”

• Merseyside Police will be updating its social media accounts - Twitter, Facebook, Snapchat and Instagram - throughout the week of action using the hashtag #StopKnifeCrime

• For more advice and information about knife crime go to www.knifefree.co.uk

• We will also be hosting a Twitter Q&A between 6pm and 7pm next Wednesday, 13th March, when police, local authority representatives and health professionals will be answering the public's questions about knife crime via @MerseyPolice DM us your question and we will do our best to answer it.