Police chief backs bid to curb stabbings, shootings and acid attacks
Plans to combat a rise in stabbings, shootings and acid attacks have been welcomed by a police chief.
The serious violence strategy is underpinned by £40 million of Home Office funding and led by a new Offensive Weapons Bill that aims to make it much harder for young criminals to arm themselves.
Matthew Ellis, Staffordshire’s Police and Crime Commissioner, said that although knife crime in the county was not of the scale seen in some big cities, it was still an increasing problem.
“The police have an enforcement role to play but it is understanding what motivates individuals to carry a knife, which is key to preventing it in the first place,” he said.
“Stop and Search powers by police are an important aspect when used appropriately.
“One of the key roles of the safer neighbourhood panels, which I established two years ago and are made up of members of the public, is to examine police bodycam footage to ensure proper use of stop and search.
“In Staffordshire that has been shown to be appropriate, meaning officers should absolutely be using it where it is right to do so.”
He said the Staffordshire Youth Commission, set up in 2016, voted to make the issue of knife crime one of its six major concerns and had now talked to more than 400 young people on the issue.
Its report, including recommendations, is due to be finalised soon. Last month young people from both sides of the Atlantic discussed the dangers and potential remedies in a meeting chaired by Mr Ellis.
Members of the Staffordshire Youth Commission were joined by criminology students from US institutions Ball State University and University North Carolina Wilmington.
Also taking part in the debate was Alison Cope, whose son was stabbed outside a Birmingham nightclub in 2013, and one-time convicted gang member Darryl Laycock.
Mr Ellis’s comments come after David Jamieson, the Police and Crime Commissioner for the West Midlands, said more needed to be done to tackle violent crime.
Mr Jamieson welcomed the ban on the possession of zombie knives, something he had campaigned for along with the Express & Star, but urged the government to go further.
He said: “I am pleased that the campaign to ban the possession of these vile weapons has been successful, but the government needs to go further still and ensure that other weapons with no practical use other than to harm people such as zombie crossbows and other dangerous weapons are banned also.
“In the last month the Home Office told me they had no intention of banning so-called zombie crossbows.”
