Events > The Young People and Knife Crime Summit

Event Details

Title:

The Young People and Knife Crime Summit:
Tackling Street Weapon Culture Through Partnership

Date:

Thursday 30th October 2008

Time:

10:00am – 4:10pm (followed by Networking Drinks)

Venue:

One Birdcage Walk, Westminster, London

“Let us be clear, if you carry a knife our objective and determination is that you will be caught; you will be prosecuted; you will be punished.”
“But we want to do all in our power also to prevent anyone carrying a knife in the first place.”
“Enforcement, punishment and prevention together.”

— Rt. Hon Gordon Brown MP, Prime Minister, July 2008

“We are firmly committed to deliver further reductions in the crimes that most concern people, particularly violence involving knives and guns. Whilst the BCS shows violence falling by 40 per cent since 1997, with a 12 per cent fall in the last year alone, we also know that knives are still being used in the most serious violent incidents.”
“The Youth Crime Action Plan published this week is just one part of a comprehensive package of tough enforcement and intensive prevention measures we have put in place to tackle violent crime wherever it occurs.”

— Rt. Hon Jacqui Smith MP, Home Secretary, July 2008

Overview

Over fifty teenagers have died as a result of violent incidents in London alone in the past two years – with many of the victims succumbing to horrific knife attacks by other young people. Nationally, several high profile gun and knife crimes along with the perceived escalation of knife-possession and gang-related violence has prompted the Government to launch new measures to tackle youth crime; particularly to address the growing street weapon culture that is destroying so many young lives.

The Youth Crime Action Plan 2008 was published in July and aims to send out a strong and clear message to young people that violent crime in all its forms will no longer be tolerated. These new measures seek to underpin many of the key proposals outlined earlier this year in the Action Plan for Tackling Violence 2008-2011 “Saving Lives. Reducing Harm. Protecting the Public”. As well as action on knife and gun crime, there is a renewed cross-government drive to address some of the root causes of violence, with a particular emphasis on identifying those at risk through early intervention.

This major one-day national conference, hosted by the Centre for Parliamentary Studies, will provide a timely opportunity for local practitioners to assess the key objectives of the action plan in relation to tackling knife possession and reducing knife-related violence amongst young people. Delegates will consider how the ‘triple track’ approach of enforcement, punishment and prevention can be implemented fully and effectively at the local level, bringing closer together the work of police, probation, local authorities, health services and education authorities.

Programme