Preventing Knife Crime Through Education
Tackling knife crime is not just a matter of enforcement - it is about prevention, awareness, and giving young people the knowledge and confidence to make positive choices. Education plays a vital role in this. By working with schools, community groups and families, we can help ensure that young people understand the risks, the law, and the life-changing consequences of carrying a knife.
As Dorset’s Police and Crime Commissioner, I believe that education is one of the most powerful tools we have in keeping our communities safe. Through early intervention and honest direct conversations, we can prevent harm before it happens, protect our young people, and reduce the devastating impact that knife crime has on victims, families, and communities alike.
Today, I would like to introduce you to one of the firearms officers who delivers the Firearms and Knife Crime Education (FAKE) as part of the work from Dorset Police’s Safer Schools and Communities Team, to talk about this education.
“The purpose of FAKE is to tell young people about the dangers, realities and consequences of knife crime to empower better decision-making to keep young people and our communities safe. These sessions are led and delivered by firearms officers and take place in secondary schools, aimed at students in year 10. Usually, these take place during Sceptre, the national knife crime awareness week, which takes place twice a year and we spend the week visiting schools across Dorset delivering these presentations and having discussions with young people about knife crime.
“The presentations we deliver are impactful. This isn’t just my view; this is what we’re told by schools and students. As firearms officers, we’re often first on the scene of incidents of violent crime and have seen and have direct experience of the impact these offences have firsthand. That experience enables us to be direct and clear, and we know that’s how students want us to talk to them – they want to know the realities. That’s why hearing from people with lived experience – victims, families, friends, hospital and medical staff – who all have their own stories to tell is also so important and makes a big impact. The hard-hitting aspect of these people’s lived experience removes the glamour which some might associate with knife crime and gives a reality-check.
“One of the new things we have also done recently is expand this education, working alongside youth justice and youth offending teams, adapting the powerful messages we’re taking to schools and ensuring they are clear for those who may be on the periphery of criminality or to stop the behaviours which may lead them further into the criminal justice system. Our aim is not to criminalise children when you do not need to, but it’s equally important to make clear that when early intervention steps have not been successful, enforcement action will and is taken.
“Ultimately, this education is just one aspect of what Dorset Police do to prevent and tackle knife crime with young people, but it is an important one. We know knife crime – when it happens - has an impact on our communities, and is something people are worried about, so it is vital we are having these conversations with young people and showing them the devastating reality of knife crime to deter them from a path they inevitably end up regretting.”
Thank you to the officer for their insight. I have seen these powerful sessions delivered in schools in person and know from speaking to students how impactful and important they are. My Office has also supported these presentations by creating a number of videos with people impacted by knife crime for inclusion – you can read more about that here.
Tackling knife crime will always require a joint effort – one that brings together enforcement, education, prevention, and community support. And although Dorset has low levels of knife crime, while young people think they need to carry a knife, we still have work to do. The FAKE sessions are a vital part of this work, helping young people to see the risks clearly and to make safer, more positive choices for their future.
Dedicated prevention work plays a vital role in keeping our county at the bottom of the ‘knife offences’ list, we are one of the lowest areas for knife offences in the country and there has been a 9 per cent reduction in offences compared to last year. But, we all know that more is needed, more prevention, more education, more diversion, more enforcement - there is always more I want to achieve for the people and communities of Dorset, especially when it comes to knife crime, because as we all know, one young person carrying a knife, one young person being injured or tragically killed, is one too many.
I am grateful to the dedicated officers who deliver these sessions with honesty and impact, and to the schools, families, and young people who engage so openly with them. Together, we are building awareness, reducing harm, and making Dorset a safer place for everyone.
David Sidwick
Dorset Police and Crime Commissioner