Community leaders meet to discuss tackling knife crime
Oxford’s community leaders come together to discuss knife crime and how to collectively tackle the issue
The Oxford Knife Crime Summit was held at Unipart House on Monday 2 September, and was attended by the Police & Crime Commissioner for Thames Valley, Thames Valley Police, Oxford City Council, Oxfordshire County Council, SAFE! and other partners.
Attendees discussed the work being carried out in Oxford to tackle knife crime and plans to further tackle the issue in the future, with a focus on supporting young people. In 2023-24, knife crime in Oxford was at its lowest level for the past 5 years, however, there have been high-profile unrelated incidents in Oxford earlier in the year.
Knife Crime Summit
The Serious Violence and Knife Crime Summit was the first of its kind to be held in Oxford.
The Oxford Safer Communities Partnership discussed existing work to tackle knife crime and serious violence, including supporting young people, tackling domestic violence and protecting people at night, and agreed that this remains a priority.
The group will continue to oversee the delivery of the collective response as detailed in the Safer Oxfordshire Partnership’s Serious Violence Reduction Strategy, which can be found on the County Council website.
Existing work to tackle knife crime
Oxford’s organisations are already carrying out a wide range of work to tackle knife crime in the city, including:
- Thames Valley Police provides amnesty bins across the force area, including one in the reception area of St Aldates Police Station. Anyone can dispose of knives or other weapons, no questions asked – just drop it in the bin, no need to speak to anyone.
- Thames Valley Police conducts high-visibility patrols in high-risk areas, and targets those who are known to carry knives or involved in other criminal behaviour, particularly organised crime and drug supply. During a week of intensified activity in November, as part of Operation Sceptre, officers conducted 1,200 patrols in violence hotspots, carried out 110 test purchase operations with retailers selling knives and delivered 70 education sessions across the force area.
- Oxford City Council, Oxfordshire County Council and Thames Valley Police are leading members of the Thames Valley Violence Prevention Partnership, working together with other partners and communities to prevent violence and to tackle its root causes, with a range of education and early intervention projects active in the city, including sports initiatives, Hospital Navigators, family support, and education.
- In March, the Police and Crime Commissioner committed £900,000 to tackle youth knife offending, including to speed up the time Youth Offending Teams take to contact under 18s arrested for knife-enabled offences.
- In May, the “Stay True to You” campaign launched, providing information on how to support young people in keeping safe. It offers free online training for parents/carers and has been working with a range of Oxfordshire partners and local organisations.
“We can never be complacent about the risks of knife crime, yet it is important to recognise that knife crime is at its lowest levels in Oxford for the last five years.
“Today’s Oxford Knife Crime Conference has been an important opportunity to reinvigorate the partnership between police, councils and charities who are all working collectively to prevent violent crime.
“I am pleased that the Op Deter Youth programme will soon be rolling out in Oxfordshire. I’ve made additional funding available to ensure the Youth Offending Service can respond within 90 minutes when the police arrest a young person for knife possession.
“Violence on our streets is unacceptable and I am determined to work to continue to reduce crime in Thames Valley.”
Matthew Barber, Police and Crime Commissioner for Thames Valley
