NEW plans to combat knife crime in Gloucestershire have been unveiled.
As a project called “Knife or Your Life”, a film will be made about how criminal ‘county lines’ gangs target vulnerable youngsters to educate young people on the dangers of knife crime.
The initiative was announced at a meeting between the Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) Chris Nelson and Chief Fire Officer Mark Preece in Gloucester’s SkillZONE.
The SkillZONE indoor village opened 12 years ago and more than 60,000 people have visited to learn about safety.
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In a teachers’ survey, 100 per cent of children said they felt safer after they had been.
The project will use SkillZONEs 15 different ‘zones’, including an alleyway, a bus and a shop, to teach young people about the dangers they could encounter, and how to deal with them in a safe environment.
The Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner (OPCC) has given more than £50,000 to the organisation, which will help fund the film, new equipment, a project lead and evaluation officer for the early intervention youth programme.
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.”
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.”
Figures show that rates of knife crime in Gloucestershire are below the national average, at 0.595 per 1,000 people locally, compared with 0.611 per 1,000 nationally.