The issues surrounding gun and knife crime, especially where young people are involved, continue to receive national media attention

While in South Yorkshire there have been significant reductions in the number of young people we come face to face with through incidents involving guns and knives there is still a worrying trend nationally.

 

• Nearly a third of children in the UK have been affected by gun and knife crime. Source: NCH/Action for Children 2008.

 

• One in five 16 year-old boys admits to having attacked someone and intended to hurt them seriously with a knife. Source: National Youth Agency 2006.

 

• 63% of young people surveyed believe image is directly linked to gun and knife crime; 61% think gun and knife crime is about revenge and reprisals; and 63% believe peer pressure is a main reason for gun and knife crime. Source: NCH/Action for Children 2008.

 

• The most commonly given reason for carrying a knife is ‘for protection'. Source: Offending, Crime and Justice Survey 2005.

 

• 322 fatal stabbings were recorded by police in 2007, the highest number since records began in 1977, up by almost 40% in a decade.

 

• The number of people prosecuted by magistrates for possessing knives soared from 4,489 in 1997 to 7,699 in 2006.

 

• The number of youths aged between 10 and 17 searched by police rose from 123,819 in 2007-08 to 185,489 in the 2008/9

 

• 5,239 stab victims were admitted to hospital in 2008, including 609 under-18s – down from 5,720 in 2007.