Students in Wakefield given knife crime warning talk

Hundreds of students in Wakefield have been given a stark warning about the dangers of carrying knives through a new campaign from police.
A talk on knife crime was given to students.A talk on knife crime was given to students.
A talk on knife crime was given to students.

Detectives from Wakefield CID and officers from the Wakefield Central Neighbourhood Policing Team spoke with over 200 students at Wakefield College as part of continuing work to educate teenagers about the risks of knife crime.

Officers gave teenagers a break down about the risks they could pose to themselves by carrying knives over four hard hitting sessions and talked about the awful injuries they had seen knife victims suffer, and the subsequent impact on them and their families.

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The initiative is one of a number carried out in Wakefield in recent months to raise awareness of the knife crime.

In August offices deployed a knife arch outside a licensed premises in the city centre as part of the Operation Sceptre, and have also carried out other educational inputs.

Over £210,000 in grants was given to projects aimed at tackling violent crime in West Yorkshire in the last round of the Police and Crime Commissioner’s Safer Communities Fund.

Inspector Helen Brear of the Wakefield Central Neighbourhood Policing Team, said: “Fortunately Wakefield District does not have particular issues with knife crime among our young people, but we are determined to do all we can to make sure teenagers in our area are aware of the risks of carrying knives.

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“Statistics have shown that if you carry a knife for protection, you are putting yourself in danger as it is likely to be used against you – around a third of knife-related injuries are caused by the victim’s own knife.

“Knives aren’t the answer and their use can cause devastation, not just for victims and the families of victims, but for perpetrators too.”