A leading officer has set out how Avon and Somerset Police are tackling knife crime and youth violence in Bristol. After a violent start to the year in the city with several stabbings, the police have carried out targeted work, including intervening early with teenagers at risk of getting involved in crime.
In the first two months of the year, four Bristol teenagers were stabbed leaving three dead and one with life-changing injuries. Max Dixon and Mason Rist were murdered in Knowle West, Darrian Williams was murdered in Easton, and an unnamed teenager was stabbed outside McDonald’s in the city centre. All but one of the convicted perpetrators were also teenagers.
An update about the work carried out by the police and Bristol City Council on youth violence was given to councillors on the children and young people policy committee on Thursday, November 28. They heard how the stabbings caused widespread ripple effects throughout local communities.
Superintendent Mark Runacres said: “There had been a significant increase in serious youth violence and knife crime incidents in east Bristol in recent months leading up to the early part of this year. In the other areas in south Bristol, north and central, it was fairly static.
“Some of the issues that were playing out in east Bristol were relating to ongoing tensions, which he had information and intelligence about. Two incidents, at McDonald’s and Rawnsley Park, we know there were links, in terms of the evidence that was heard at court, about how tensions were playing out between some young people involved in street conflict.
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“Since targeted work was delivered, including early intervention work, there were reductions, particularly in east Bristol. The other areas have remained fairly static. Those reductions have been maintained as we’ve moved further through the year. It’s not something that we’re complacent about though.
“The issues around identity and what that means to young people in different parts of the city is key. It’s quite a challenging issue for us to police our way through, because it links into a lot of issues around deprivation, vulnerability and exploitation.”
Leading the work against youth violence is the Safer Options programme, which brings together several organisations in the city including the police and the council. Early intervention work aims to highlight young people at higher risk, including those who regularly miss school.
Last year Safer Options reached 1,623 children, with programmes on weapons and drugs in schools, prevention, community mentoring and group work. School attendance, training and a stable family are considered key protective factors — and children without these are considered to be more vulnerable.
Mr Runacres added: “There are links with exploitation, from adults seeking to exploit those young people and their vulnerability, and draw them into wider criminality, some of which involves drug dealing. Often the carrying of knives will then become part of those behaviours, as perceived protection.”
The police try to be proactive in their work, with neighbourhood teams aiming to build bridges through community groups and youth workers. Becoming more familiar and well known in local neighbourhoods helps encourage people to report issues and teenagers in need of support.
Mr Runacres said: “We need to be engaging with communities, that’s always been a real focus of mine. That’s what neighbourhood policing is about, we need to be connected. Where you’ve got that engagement and connection with communities, that builds confidence in the police and makes people more likely to report things to us. The preventative work is really, really key.
“I would like to take the opportunity to acknowledge and pay tribute to the communities from Lawrence Hill, Easton, Knowle and Hartcliffe. The responses to the police investigations in all those parts of the city and beyond were absolutely exemplary. They really supported us in getting the evidence we needed to get positive outcomes at court.
“We had regular meetings with senior representatives of schools across the city after Max and Mason were murdered. The meetings were attended by over a hundred representatives, which I think is testament to how keen people were to get involved in monitoring the impacts and dealing with the impacts.”
However, one issue flagged was the lack of information given to local neighbourhoods and councillors directly after the double murder. This was hamstrung by the need to balance providing communities with information and avoiding any compromise to ongoing police investigations.
Labour Councillor Kerry Bailes, representing Hartcliffe and Withywood, said: “Even though you knew where the perpetrators were from, we weren’t told anything. The perpetrators lived not far from where I live, and that was quite frightening for the whole community to not be given any information.”
Every time the police went to an address to make an inquiry or arrest, officers assessed the risk and impact on the wider community, Mr Runacres said. Armed officers had to be used for some arrests, and some people were arrested despite being “completely unconnected”, with devastating consequences.
Labour Cllr Susan Kollar, representing Bishopsworth, added: “I know of a lad who was arrested after the events of Max and Mason. That particular young boy was arrested and questioned. Although he was innocent, and he wasn’t charged with anything and he was released, the wider impact on his family was massive.
“They ended up having to be moved out of the area. All the family were relocated, with new schools and everything. Obviously we understand that arrests have to be made, because you’ve got to follow all lines of inquiry. But we have to be mindful of that kind of situation and the impact on families of people who have been arrested and are innocent.”
Together For Change Aims
Set up a task force – We will develop a community-driven task force to meet and discuss the issue, how best to tackle it and how we can make a real difference with those in power.
Getting knives off the street – We will work with the campaigners to raise awareness of initiatives designed to get knives off the streets.
Social media – We will look at the Online Safety Bill and see if it goes far enough where it comes to harmful knife-related content on social media and how easy it is for children to see.
Raise awareness – We will work together to raise the awareness of how knife crime is linked to poverty, education, employment, social exclusion and the collapse in youth services
Lobby the government -We will cover the issue in the context of the General Election, using our findings from the taskforce and our reporting to lobby for change
Hold power to account – We will scrutinise and hold Avon and Somerset Police and Bristol City Council to account on their plans and models to make Bristol safer
Another problem is Bristol’s poor rates of school attendance. Six-hundred children are currently missing education, and the rates of attendance are lower than the national average. High school pupils in Bristol attend 87 per cent of days, compared with 91 per cent across England.
Green Councillor Christine Townsend, chair of the children’s committee, said: “There’s a very high level of fear and insecurity that [young people] feel in their communities. Some even talk about feeling fearful when they’re walking home from school. It’s certainly something that’s everybody’s business to try to help our young people feel safe when they’re out and about.
“The biggest protective factor for the majority of children will be attending an education setting, whether that’s a mainstream school or an alternative learning provider. It comes up time and time again, that that’s an element. Being with adults, learning, progressing, having opportunities is very protective, because they’re not being manipulated or groomed.
“It also becomes part of their everyday experiences. The experiences they’re having are positive, they have opportunities and they’re seeing their futures and something they can move into. We’ve got some short-term stuff and some long-term work that we’re doing, so we will come back to this.”