THE government on Tuesday (7) unveiled a plan to "halve knife crime within a decade" by increasing police deployment and targeting the most affected areas.
Knife crime has risen sharply over the past 15 years, particularly among young people, with prime minister Keir Starmer describing the scourge as a "national crisis".
To tackle the issue, the Home Office said in the statement that it would identify the most affected knife crime hotspots with precision down to small geographical areas.
"The vast majority of knife crime happens in the same place and same street, over and over again," the ministry said, announcing some £26 million ($35m) in funding to support 27 police forces covering areas that account for 90 per cent of such offences in England and Wales.
Those hotspots will see a "dramatic surge in police activity", including additional patrols, new CCTV coverage, the rollout of live facial recognition, and the installation of knife arches to detect weapons. No timeline has been set for these measures.
The government would "deploy state of the art mapping" to pinpoint high-risk areas and direct resources more effectively, said crime and policing minister Sarah Jones.
The strategy also includes prevention measures, with plans to establish 50 youth clubs by 2029 aimed at steering young people away from crime.
"Knife crime creates a profound and often location-based fear among young people, shaping how they move, socialise and experience their own neighbourhoods," said Patrick Green, a member of the government's Coalition to Tackle Knife Crime.
Additional funding will be directed towards school-based prevention programmes.
Last week, police launched a National Knife Crime Centre in London to crack down on the sale of banned knives and machetes, including online sales of weapons.
The government has already introduced legislation banning so-called "zombie knives" and machetes, often associated with gang culture, which came into force in September 2024.
In the year ending September 2025, there were about 50,000 knife crimes in England and Wales, according to the Office for National Statistics, with the highest rates in London.
According to the Home Office, knife crime has fallen by 8 per cent since July 2024, with more than 63,000 weapons seized, surrendered, or confiscated, the majority of them zombie-style knives and machetes.
(AFP)
