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Blog posted by: Matthew Barber, APCC Joint Lead on Serious Violence, 08 April 2026.

Barely a day goes by without a headline about a young person being stabbed, often by someone of a similar age. One incident, two damaged lives – those of the victim and perpetrator, and sometimes they are both.

Shockingly, a 2024 joint report by Ofsted, the Care Quality Commission, HM Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services, and HM Inspectorate of Probation into multi-agency responses to serious youth violence found that children as young as 11 in England are carrying knives, supposedly for their own protection. But evidence shows someone armed with a knife is, in fact, more likely to end up as a victim.

More recent research by the Youth Endowment Fund found one in five 13-17-year-olds in England and Wales had been a victim of violence in the past year, and one in eight admitted carrying out violence themselves.

And the Youth Justice Board reported last year that children are involved in around a sixth of knife crime offences, with black and mixed ethnicity children over-represented in knife offending.

The moral imperative to confront the dangerous knife-carrying culture that has embedded itself in some communities is unarguable and urgent. While police and crime commissioners (PCCs) and deputy mayors support the Government’s pledge to halve knife crime in a decade, it will take action as well as warm words from Westminster to make it happen. It’s an ambitious target and one that cannot be achieved solely through law enforcement, key though that is.

The link between knife crime and drugs

County Lines is a real concern. Under the threat of violence, distressingly young children are being recruited by those operating on behalf of organised crime gangs running drugs.

As they see it, or perhaps are told, being armed with a knife will keep them safe as they travel long distances to supply drugs to towns and cities across the country.

Once involved, it is incredibly difficult for the children – now both criminal perpetrator and victim of those exploiting them for financial gain – to extricate themselves without putting themselves or their families at great risk of violent retribution.

The National Police Chiefs’ Council recently published the results of a week of action against County Lines in England and Wales. The figures show what can be achieved.

Along with more than 2,000 arrests and seizures of hundreds of kilos of drugs, 377 knives, machetes, axes and swords were confiscated. Dozens of firearms and other weapons including a crossbow were also seized, as were 23 dangerous dogs.

Importantly, more than 1,300 people were safeguarded, including 252 girls and 544 boys. It shows how much other associated criminality can be successfully tackled by focusing on the County Lines model of drugs supply.

Under different governments we have seen a raft of legislation aimed at taking lethal weapons off the streets. In the last couple of years, possession of ninja swords and zombie knives in private places has become illegal.

While these moves are broadly backed by PCCs – in fact, my own force, Thames Valley Police, was the first to make an arrest under the zombie knife ban, a mere 22 minutes after it came into being – we cannot lose sight of the fact kitchen knives are the most commonly used weapon. Governments can confuse activity with outcomes, and new legislation alone will not change people’s attitudes to knife carrying.

All too often we assume the police, or the council, or some other public body has the answers, and we ignore those most affected – children themselves, and, indeed, their parents.

As well as providing support, there is the need to instil responsibility. With that responsibility comes consequences, but it also gives individuals agency to improve their own lives and their families’.

Evidence shows young people at risk of being drawn into crime are often already known to local authorities via one route or another which offers opportunities for early intervention.

It is far more effective to engage with a pupil who has started exhibiting problematic behaviour at school than once their misbehaviour has escalated to the point they are excluded. Once out of school, they are automatically less connected to services and potential support, and far more vulnerable to exploitation.

Working together to find solutions

Local partnership working can make a real difference. The 2024 joint report highlighted the effectiveness of focused work with children, their families and communities that addresses, for instance, the impact of trauma and abuse, and access to education and support, while giving children opportunities to develop their interests and skills.

In the Thames Valley area, we run Operation Deter and its sister scheme for under-18s, Operation Deter Youth, which my office funds and is run by the nine Youth Justice Services in the area.

Both schemes take a zero-tolerance approach to knife possession with swifter charging decisions. Op Deter Youth also activates a fast-tracked programme of support for children arrested for knife-related crimes; the Youth Justice Service team contacts them within 90 minutes of notification of arrest, and a home visit takes place within 48 hours of them leaving custody.

Tailored interventions are then made, which might include Speech, Language and Communication Needs assessments; education, training and employment support; mental health support; or lessons on ways to resolve conflict without violence or aggression. Key is that support is also available for parents and carers.

Evaluation of Op Deter Youth has consistently cited the value of building trusting relationships with the young people and their families, alongside combined practical and therapeutic or diversionary support. The programme has successfully identified, too, issues that can contribute to a person’s offending behaviour, for instance undiagnosed learning difficulties or housing instability.

Since its full implementation across the Thames Valley area in 2024, the programme has been expanded to include all weapons, and violence with injury and robbery offences. I have committed to funding Op Deter Youth in 2026/27 and plan further evaluation to measure its long-term outcomes.

I cautiously welcome the fact that a similar approach is now being adopted by the Home Office. Of course, I am delighted the merits of this swift intervention are being recognised, but it will only work if it is properly embraced and funded by Youth Offending Services across the country.

The reduction and prevention of youth violence is a fundamental priority for PCCs. Many of us chair local partnerships that pool multi-sector expertise and local knowledge, and PCCs have been central to the development and implementation of the 20 multi-agency Violence Reduction Units (VRUs) that adopt a ‘public health approach’ to find long-term, tangible solutions in areas with the highest levels of serious violence in England and Wales.

Our local Violence Prevention Partnership (the local name for our VRU) brings together key local authority, education, health and policing partners with charities and community representatives.

Together we work to understand, for example, the impact of adverse early-life experiences or harmful social or community influences that can result in some children becoming involved in violence.

PCCs and deputy mayors around the country are instrumental in driving these local alliances because, elected to be the public’s voice in policing, we understand the desire and need in communities to change the knife carrying culture that has taken hold among too many of our young people, amid the mistaken belief that carrying a knife will keep them safe.

Are we turning a corner on knife crime?

Much of this behaviour is deeply entrenched in communities so turning it around is not easy; but the most recent crime statistics for England and Wales show that, on average, knife-related offences fell by 9% in the 12 months to the end of September 2025 compared to a year earlier. This won’t be the case in all areas, but it is a welcome sign that efforts to drive down knife crime are, hopefully, beginning to bear fruit.

It suggests we might be finally turning a corner, but we cannot afford to lose momentum. Good policy, the right investment and collaboration are important. Enforcement needs to be tough and swift.

There must be consequences to endangering others, but we cannot forget that we need to change culture and outlook. This is not just about enforcement, nor is it just about poverty and economics. We need to reach children – and their parents – to tackle attitudes that it is acceptable to carry a knife.

Come May 2028, PCCs will no longer exist. It is vital that the Government’s police reform programme, with all the risks it presents, does not result in a slackening-off of efforts to keep those recent knife crime statistics trending downwards.

The life chances and safeguarding of young people are too important, and all involved would be doing them and the wider public a disservice if we fail to build on the improvements we are just beginning to see.

• This article first appeared in Policing Insight