‘Knife or Your Life’ – Police and Fire to work together to reduce knife crime

• The OPCC has given more than £53,000 to a life-size safety village SkillZONE to help combat knife crime through a new project called ‘Knife or Your Life’
• The money will be used to educate young people about the dangers of knife crime
• SkillZONE is an interactive, life-size indoor village with different ‘zones’ such as a police station, home, train station and alleyway to teach young people and adults how to stay safe
• PCC, Chris Nelson, said: “Although we have witnessed fewer knife crimes than other parts of the country, we will always treat serious violence as a priority”.

New plans to combat knife crime in Gloucestershire were unveiled during a meeting between the Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) Chris Nelson and Deputy Chief Fire Officer Nathaniel Hooton at the purpose built SkillZONE in Gloucester.

The Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner (OPCC) has given more than £50,000 to the organisation for a new project called ‘Knife or Your Life’, which will educate young people about the dangers of being drawn into knife crime.

The money will go towards making a film about how so-called county lines gangs target vulnerable youngsters, recruiting a Project Lead and Evaluation Officer for the early intervention youth programme and new equipment for the organisation.

PCC Chris Nelson said, “We should be thankful that Gloucestershire is still a relatively safe county. And although we have witnessed fewer offences involving bladed weapons than other parts of the country, that is no consolation to those who have lost loved ones as a result.

“I am committed to tackling all aspects of knife crime and am pleased my office was able to get money from the Serious Violence Duty Fund that will help prevent the needless loss of young lives”.

The latest figures show that rates of knife crime in Gloucestershire are below the national average, currently standing at 0.595 per 1,000 people locally, compared with 0.611 per 1,000 nationally.

Mark Preece, Chief Fire Officer for Gloucestershire Fire and Rescue Service, said: “I’m grateful for this funding from the OPCC for this initiative being led by our SkillZONE centre to tackle knife crime.

“It’s important we educate young people to consider the potential consequences of carrying knives. I hope these innovative measures being introduced at SkillZONE will help to deliver these important messages to young people and help to reduce knife crime.”

SkillZONE contains 15 different ‘zones’, including an alleyway, a bus and a shop; all areas that people are likely to come across in their daily lives. The idea is to teach young people about the dangers they could encounter, and how to deal with them in a safe environment.

The indoor village opened 12 years ago and since then more than 60,000 people have visited to learn about safety. In a teachers’ survey, 100% of children said they felt safer after they had been.

Cllr Philip Robinson, cabinet member for education, skills and bus transport, at Gloucestershire County Council, said: “I would like to thank the OPCC for supporting the ‘Knife or Your Life’ project at SkillZONE. It’s a very important initiative as we need to reach young people to deliver an early prevention message, by warning them of the devastation that carrying knives can cause to families.

“We are committed to working in partnership with the OPCC to educate young people on the dangers of knife crime, to ensure Gloucestershire remains a safe place for everyone to live and work.”