Bristol knife crime? It's not that bad, says top policeman
Bristol does not have a knife crime crisis,
according to the man in charge of policing in the
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city.
Days after a father was stabbed to death in a Withywood
street, Assistant Chief Constable John Long said the incident
was not indicative of a wave of knife crime similar to the one
that has hit London.
He said: "We don't have the problems of the capital.
In London 18 young people have lost their lives in knife
attacks this year. Metropolitan Police have made knife crime
their "number one priority" and set up a 75-strong task
force.
In Bristol on Saturday, father-of-two John Derrick, 43, was
found lying in the road in Gatehouse Avenue, Withywood, with
stab wounds to the head and chest.
He died in Frenchay Hospital on Sunday. Two men and a woman
have been arrested in connection with his death.
The incident followed the knifing of Alan Riddock, 41,
outside a Bedminster pub in May.
Four people have been charged with his murder.
But the Avon and Somerset force has not been included in a
list of eight "hotspot" areas being targeted in a new national
offensive against knife crime.
And 46-year-old Mr Long, who worked in London for 18 years
before joining Avon and Somerset police in 2003, said the two
Bristol incidents were not a reflection of a wider problem.
He said that a lot of work had been done after the tragic
death of Linval Wright, who was stabbed to death outside his
home in Lena Street, Easton, four years ago.
Mr Long said: "His mother Calota Griffiths made an
educational video to help drive home the message to young
people about the potential consequences of carrying a knife and
you only have to speak to the local education authority to see
the efforts that have gone into steering young people away from
crime."
Linval was stabbed 16 times by brothers Nathan, 19, and Lee
Smith, 17, who were sentenced to life imprisonment in 2005.
Since then knife crime has gone down 24.9 per cent.
In the year April 2004 to April 2005 there were 1,038 crimes
in which a blade was used to threaten or injure, but that
includes 278 people arrested for possession of a knife.
In 2007-8, the figure had fallen to 780, with 220 of those
counted as possession.
Three people died in Bristol last year after being stabbed
but there has been a decline in the number of Bristol people
admitted to hospital with knife wounds.
There were 80 in 2005-6, 73 in 2006-7 and 64 last year. Of
those 217, 32 were aged under 20, about 14 per cent.
Mr Long said that in most of the crimes in Bristol in which
knives were used, the offender and victim knew each other and
the incidents were "domestic" in nature or were drug
related.
He said: "In the main, the incidents have not involved young
people. That?s not to say that young people have not been
caught carrying knives, and the figures for knife crime include
stop-and-search cases where a knife has been found.
"Where we do come across allegations of knife crime, we
treat them very seriously.
"In the main, people who are caught with knives are
charged.
"Fortunately, the figures have come down significantly over
the last five years and I believe that is due to the work that
has been going on in Bristol for a number of years."
The Government was today due to unveil a ?100 million Youth
Crime Action Plan.
But Home Secretary Jacqui Smith has already had to back down
over a "shock tactic" measure she hoped would stem the growing
tide of knife crime.
Other measures include curfews at knife crime hotspots to
clear the streets of under-16s after 9pm.
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A 42-year-old woman has been arrested in connection with
the stabbing of Mr Derrick.
A 51-year-old man who was arrested on Sunday morning has
been released on police bail, pending further inquiries and
a 31-year-old man, arrested on Sunday afternoon, was still
being questioned last night.
Anyone with information about Mr Derrick's death is
asked to contact Bristol CID on 0845 456 7000 or
Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.
10 Comments
by Chuck, Canada
Tuesday, July 29 2008, 7:50PM
“With regard to banning knifes because criminals are using them to commit crimes and to kill people.
The courts should treat all people the same way for murder, no matter what they used to commit the crime. The public can¿t keep demanding that the laws be changed, and wanting to break the punishment into groups according to the instruments used. If criminals kill with a rock, a piece of lumber, a gun, a hammer, a knife, a car while driving drunk or reckless, or a sock full of bread pudding, it should be considered as a crime of murder and treated as such. It¿s insane to keep banning the instruments used because the list would be endless, and cars should be at the top of the list!
If the law is changed to bans knives, as some people are suggesting, what are we going to cut our food with? That¿s silly.
The people should think very carefully before giving the authorities more control over our lives, because with each law there is a loss of public freedom.”
by Karen, Hartcliffe
Tuesday, July 29 2008, 5:35PM
“I am 39 years of age and i am beginning to think maybe i should be carrying a weapon for mine and my families protection.... I have never had any kind of criminal record and yet unless the Government wake up and admit they have handed the world over to criminals of all ages then its going to be for the rest of us 'If you can't beat them, join them!' SORT IT OUT!!!!!!!!!”
by wemmly, round here
Tuesday, July 29 2008, 2:46PM
“Why dont they just ban knives - like they did with handguns ?
- Then the criminals will have to stop using them - innit”
by John, Hengrove
Wednesday, July 16 2008, 1:13AM
“We moved here from Slough a short while ago to try and get away from crime and other things.
But with in a short time of being here my van was broken into right out side of our door.
My wife went to the shops just 10 minutes walk and 4 boys aged about 11 started verbally abusing her and chucked stones at her, she told me see was very scared.
Kids have set fires in the back a number of times.
We should have stayed where we were we feel less safe here than we did in Slough. And all we have heard since coming here is about knife crime, I personally think crime is on the up here even though we just been here a short while I would feel safer walking the streets of London.”
by Matt, kingswood
Tuesday, July 15 2008, 11:38PM
“I personally am bored of listening to your statistics, they are meaningless rubbish. With a sister-in-law who is still at school, I get to hear quite a bit of what is happening around this area. School children, boys in particular, (girls also having some involvement) carry knives on a daily basis on the streets and in the school. I have personally seen some of the injuries inflicted by these weapons. I am fed up of youths hanging round on the corner of my street, showing off their knives, knuckle dusters and other weapons.”
by Terrence Conway, Bristol
Tuesday, July 15 2008, 11:31PM
“Why fix something that isn't broken,please return to the old format.”
by john, centre
Tuesday, July 15 2008, 10:55PM
“If you are stabbed nowadays that is considered OK, if you are killed it is only then the police take notice. However remember that the police are under-resourced and it because of this that stabbings can not taken that seriously. We have forensic science to help solve crime, but that it is very expensive and that is why it is not utilised properly. Therefore blame the politicians for not providing enough money and resources.”
by Katie, Bristol
Tuesday, July 15 2008, 9:16PM
“Fair enough. We don't have the knife crime epidemic they do in other cities and John Derrick's death wasn't that sort of killing.”
by jacqui probert, bristol
Tuesday, July 15 2008, 7:25PM
“MR long wake up crime is on the up in bristol and that inclueds knife and gun crime.. my guess is you are on rest days or hoildays at least once a week when you read that yet ANOTHER person has been stabbed to death or gunned down. we are a city much smaller than LONDON so its only figures that say our crime rate is going down when the facts are its on the up and because bristol is amuch smaller city. then we do not have the crime rate they do but we are not far behind... maybe mr long should go back to london and work because he has been here since 2003 and i can see no inprovment at all. not a single sign only of it going up.. i went to st pauls festival 5th of july and i didnt see a single youth carrying a knife unless they didnt bring there banners with them as its not some thing people shout about but I DID see a few people carrying guns and i could not find any one to report this to.. so mr long maybe a few weeks out on the streets that i live in in bristol and see for yourself”
by Charles Henry, Somerset
Tuesday, July 15 2008, 6:41PM
“Crime is 'going down' is it Mr Long?
As is our estimation of your competence to do your job. . You should have been a Labour politician perhaps. . T”