Police and Crime Commissioner for Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, Donna Jones, is warning that one knife on the streets of Hampshire and the Isle of Wight is one too many.
That’s despite the Constabulary and its partners achieving a reduction in reported serious offences involving a knife across the 2 counties of more than 22% in the 3 years to December 2024, from 1,302 incidents in 2022 to 1,010 in 2024.
Donna Jones joined officers during the Op Sceptre week of action against knife crime in May, praising them for their proactive approach to the issue. She also thanked members of the public for their ongoing commitment, helping to get more dangerous bladed weapons off the streets.
Last month’s week of action saw 890 knives recovered with 19 knife-related arrests made by Hampshire & Isle of Wight Constabulary, compared to 338 knives and 30 arrests in November 2024, while there were 281 knives recovered and 7 arrests in May 2024.
Donna Jones has said:
“Knives kill and they injure people. A multi-agency approach is needed to ensure the most robust approach to dealing with the impact of knife-carrying and the devastating after effects of knife crime. It remains one of my top priorities as Police and Crime Commissioner.
“I am determined to keep young people safe and the work we have already done in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight has seen us with one of the biggest reductions in knife crime across the country, but there is more work to be done. One knife on the street is one too many.
“In all of our towns and cities across Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, the police are out in your communities, working with the young people at risk of carrying a knife and those who are habitual carriers of knives.
Article continues below this advertisement “Sceptre plays an important role in getting more knives off the streets and get to the root causes of why someone decides to carry a knife. My office work closely with the Constabulary through my Violence Reduction Unit to support young people through local organisations, schools and the Youth Justice Service.
“The police and its partners are committed to making our communities safer, getting knives off of our streets and making sure that young people do not feel that they need to carry a knife for protection.”
It would be nice to see the Bobby back on the beat, back in
the good old days it made people feel much safer.
Nowdays you rarely see a Policeman or Policewoman.
That should say, “Reported” knife crime. Reported crime drops year by year, due to the lack of interest by the Police, until you reach the point where the population no longer bother to waste their time reporting something to the Police that the Police couldn’t care about.
Knives do not kill and injure anyone, that is down to the carrier.
I carried work knives for years, I didn’t attack anyone.
Good point.