'Who is going to protect us?': The Walsall teenagers carrying knives 'to feel safe'
Young people in Walsall are carrying knives to feel safer and scare others from attacking them, a shocking report has revealed.
Walsall Council’s children’s services overview and scrutiny committee will discuss the “emerging issue” of knife crime and criminal exploitation at a meeting today.
Data in the report shows that between April and September in 2018, there were 33 youth knife-related incidents – just 11 short of the whole figure for the 2017/18 financial year.
Among the crimes being committed were nine incidents of robbery, three of GBH and even two for possession of a knife at schools.
The report also reveals that young people in Walsall are at risk at being exploited by criminal gangs such as ‘county lines’ networks who use coercion and threats of violence to force children to move and store drugs for them.
It states: “There is an emerging issue of knife crime amongst young people in Walsall and according to police crime data recorded violent crime has been increasing across the borough.
“Knife crime in itself represents a small percentage of all crime, although in recent times there have been four murders in the borough that have involved a knife or a bladed weapon.
See also:
“These tragic events understandably attracted public attention and there is a perception that knife crime is a critical issue.
“Certainly, research undertaken by the Youth of Walsall highlighted that knives and gangs are a significant issues of concern for our young people.”
Walsall Youth Justice Service spoke to 20 young people receiving intervention about why they carry knives.
The report says: “They identified the main reason to carry a knife was to feel ‘safer’, however conversely this was closely followed with ‘to scare others’.
“One young person said that they carry a knife because they have been specifically threatened by others and three young people talked about the threat from ‘gangs’.
“Some areas in Walsall were identified by our young people where ‘knife crime is increasing rapidly’ and had ‘issues with gangs as they cross the border from Wolverhampton’.”
Training
A quote from one of the young people said: “Even if we did put our knives away, there’s still hundreds of people that you and the police don’t know about who are still going to carry knives. Who is going to protect us from them?”
A series of initiatives to tackle the problem are being carried out in the borough, including awareness campaigns such as Youth of Walsall’s ‘Real Knives, Real Lives’, human trafficking training for staff and workshops for young people.
Walsall’s community safety partnership has also been successful in securing Early Intervention Fund money from the office of the Police and Crime Commissioner.
The report added: “There is no quick fix to the emerging issues of knife crime and criminal exploitation.
“It is imperative that we continue to learn more about county lines and improve our knowledge of how Walsall young people are drawn into a life of exploitation.
“It is, however, clear that no one single agency is able to tackle these issues alone and a robust partnership approach, that focusses on the strength or relationships and family, is required to make a positive difference.”
By Gurdip Thandi
