New analysis from County Durham Labour reveals knife crime has soared by a staggering 10% in the county since the first year the Conservatives gained power.
Stats show that in 2010/11 the number of knife and sharp instrument offences recorded by the police in County Durham stood at 363. That figure had risen by 38 to 401 according to last year’s data – a jump of 10%.
Even more shocking, however, is the national picture, where offences of this nature have leaped from 36,068 to a shocking 55,008, equating to a leap of over 52% during the same period.
Labour has pledged to act swiftly to address knife crime, anti-social behaviour and combat a raft of crimes to help Government deliver its landmark mission to secure Safer Streets. The new Crime and Policing Bill, introduced today will:
- Provide tougher action on knife crime including power to seize, retain and destroy bladed articles found on private property; increase maximum penalty for sale of dangerous weapons to U18s; create a new criminal offence of possessing a bladed article with the intent to cause harm
- Tackle antisocial behaviour by giving police and others stronger powers to tackle antisocial behaviour, introducing Respect Orders; remove the need for police to issue warnings before seizing vehicles, such as off-road bikes being used antisocially strengthening existing powers. The bill also gives ministers power to issue statutory guidance to English councils on fly-tipping enforcement
- Protect retail workers with a new offence of assaulting a retail worker, giving workers in shops up and down the country greater protection
- Protect vulnerable children and adults via a new offence of child criminal exploitation, alongside a civil preventative order to stop exploitation of children by criminals
- Tackle child sexual abuse, including implementing recommendations from the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse
- Tackle violence against women and girls with new offences criminalising taking or recording intimate images or videos without consent or reasonable belief in consent
- Help police, including new power to enter premises to search and seize electronically tracked stolen goods, from mobiles to vehicles and agricultural machinery
County Durham Labour Leader, Cllr Carl Marshall, said:
“Those who perpetrate knife-crime, anti-social behaviour, theft, and generally cause a nuisance across our communities are a blight on society and can make life unbearable for residents – but Labour is determined to bring it all to an end.
“The Government is cracking down on those who ruin lives because in County Durham, knife crime has been allowed to rise too far and too fast. This is a major blitz on the crime and criminals that Labour was elected to take on.
“Labour’s Crime and Policing Bill brings back neighbourhood policing and reassures residents that this country once again has a Government serious about taking back our streets and town centres, restoring respect for law and order and giving the police the tools they need to do their jobs.”
More information on the Crime and Policing Bill can be found here
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/new-powers-for-police-to-tackle-neighbourhood-crime
Knife crime statistics can be found here
https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/crimeandjustice/datasets/policeforceareadatatables