Officers ask "is carrying a knife really worth it?" in further attempt to stop knife crime

Officers continue their dedicated fight against knife crime, protecting the community and bringing offenders to justice following a number of knife crime incidents this week which has resulted in multiple people being injured.

Superintendent Jenn Wilson said: “Carrying a knife doesn’t make you look big or cool – it makes you look stupid. Using one, not only has the potential to ruin someone else’s life, but more often than not, you’ll ruin your own.

“Ask yourself, is it really worth it? Stabbing or murdering someone, whether you intend to or not, can result in a lengthy prison sentence. But the consequences don’t end there - once you get out, you’ll probably struggle to financially support yourself with no job. If you’re lucky, your family might have stuck around but your ‘friends’ certainly won’t have. You will probably find it hard finding somewhere to live which could potentially result in you becoming homeless if you don’t seek the right support. To make ends meet, you might turn to other crime, which gets you arrested and you start the cycle again.

“Of course, some people rehabilitate and are thankfully supported by charities including The Whitechapel Centre, Emmaus, Merseyside Community Rehabilitation Company, Nacro and the Integrated Offender Management Unit (made up of staff from the National Probation Service and Merseyside Police), amongst many other organisations who provide people with the opportunity to turn their lives around – but, they often still face those early struggles, regret and judgement from others.

“We want to educate young people of the wider dangers of carrying knives to deter them from doing it in the first place. This weekend and in the coming weeks, we will be carrying out patrols around our beaches, town centres and other busy areas to ensure you are safe.

“We want you to enjoy the good weather and the easing of lockdown restrictions, not put yourself in a situation that could result in a permanent lockdown.

“If you’re in a disagreement with someone or you’re scared you might too be a victim of knife crime, then ask for help before it escalates. Tell someone you trust, tell us, tell @CrimestoppersUK anonymously – just don’t put yourself and others at risk by you too carrying a knife.”  

Schools officers across the force are continuing to meet with students in an attempt to educate them early on. We’d also encourage parents to be mindful about what your child might be doing and who they are with.  

In addition to this, our #OpTarget teams will continue to carry out proactive deployments to deter criminality. In 2020 we increased our stop searches in Merseyside by 55% from the previous year. Operation Target has also resulted in us identifying and bringing to justice a 4% increase in people carrying offensive weapons.

During #OpSceptre week earlier this year, we also saw officers recover 61 knives and arrest 15 people for possession of a bladed article during that week alone and we support local business owners and staff to ensure they have the means to better protect themselves using innovative DNA spray technology.

Supt Wilson continued: “We utilise all the resources we have available but our greatest resource, the public, need to continue working with us, sharing information and supporting out policing activity because you too could influence someone into thinking twice about carrying a knife.

“If you have any information, please reach out to us - don’t run the risk of someone you love being victim to knife crime.”