‘Think Sharp’: Developing Effective Responses to Knife-enabled Crime Amongst Young People in Lincolnshire
Prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, England and Wales was experiencing an ‘epidemic’ of knife-enabled violence. Figures from the Home Office’s Homicide Index indicated that in 2018 murders involving a knife or sharp instrument hit an all time high. Both police recorded crime and hospital admissions data indicated that in the period from 2015 – 2018 there was an increase in the numbers of offences involving knives or sharp instruments. In response, the UK government launched the Serious Violence Strategy in 2018, which identified four key areas to reduce serious violence involving weapons: tackling county lines drug dealing and the misuse of drugs; early intervention and prevention; supporting communities and partnerships; and an effective law enforcement and criminal justice response.
Since the release of this strategy, several regions across England and Wales have implemented Violence Reduction Units (VRU). These dedicated units bring together agencies from criminal justice, health, education and local authorities, to share information and work collectively to identify those at-risk of engaging in serious violence and divert them away from offending behaviour. This multi-agency approach is predicated upon a ‘public health’ model, which recognises the importance of identifying the causes violent behaviour and then focusing on how best to reduce it. Violent behaviour is the result of a range of risk factors that may be individual, communal and societal. In response, public health approaches advocate targeting smaller numbers of high-risk individuals through positive interventions, alongside more general education and awareness raising amongst the broader population.
More locally, tackling serious violence involving weapons has been identified recently as a core priority for Lincolnshire Police. During 2019-2020, Lincolnshire police recorded 3,203 offences involving a knife or weapon. There has also been a recent increase locally in the number of children and young people referred for support and intervention for such offences. In response, Lincolnshire Police are developing and leading on the delivery of ‘Think Sharp’, a new project designed to reduce incidents of knife-enabled crime amongst children and young people. The project will be housed in a disused custody suite in Sleaford, which will become a central hub for Think Sharp. Lincolnshire Police’s vision for Think Sharp is for the project to become a nationally renowned model of best practice that other regions can learn from.
The strategic leads for Think Sharp from Lincolnshire Police have been working in partnership with an inter-disciplinary group of academics from the University of Lincoln. The partnership works collaboratively to develop the project, ensure that it is informed by evidence-based research and practice, and to engage other relevant regional agencies to assist project delivery and replicate good practice taking place elsewhere.
Early in 2022, the academic team successfully secured funding from the University’s UKRI QR Policy Support Fund to engage stakeholders from across Lincolnshire. Two stakeholder workshops were held at the Cathedral Centre in Lincoln on the 21st of April and the 17th of June. The events were attended by representatives from Lincolnshire Police, University of Lincoln, Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner for Lincolnshire, Lincolnshire County Council, Children and Young People’s Complex Needs Service, educational providers, NHS England and Geese Theatre Company based in the West Midlands. Details of the Think Sharp project were shared with key regional stakeholders including discussing the local context for knife-enabled crime in Lincolnshire, and sharing evidenced-based practice on ‘what works’ when responding to these offences. The workshops incorporated delivery of several presentations. Presentations included an overview of Think Sharp development to date, a review of the existing literature around interventions for knife-enabled crime, an overview of the developing teenage brain and an introduction to the use of theatre in interventions. Presentations were followed by collaborative discussions between attendees to address questions such as ‘what considerations need to be given to the nature of the problem in Lincolnshire’, including the ‘rurality of the county’, and ‘what would success look like’.
Following successful delivery of the events, the Think Sharp partnership team are using the presentations and discussions to inform the ongoing development of the project in advance of its planned launch in 2023.