Police cuts blamed for knife crime rise

SERIOUS violent crime has shot up in the West Midlands because of police cuts and lack of funding for youth services, it has been claimed.

A report by the former PM’s thinktank, the Tony Blair Institute, highlights growing crime rates in the region.

The group said: “Serious violent crime is at crisis point in the West Midlands. Since 2014, recorded crime has risen by 44 per cent and knife crime has spiked by 75 per cent.” Knife crime recorded by police in the West Midlands region has risen from 2,471 incidents in 2014 to 4,666 incidents in 2018. And total crime in the region rose from 321,569 in 2014 to 463,312 in 2018.

Harvey Redgrave, Senior Policy Fellow at the Tony Blair Institute, said: “The government has lost its grip on crime in England and Wales. Fuelled by the supply of harmful drugs, serious violence is now out of control and the police don’t have the numbers to deal with it. As we’ve seen, the result has been too few crimes being detected and too few criminals being prosecuted.

“As a matter of urgency, the Government must set out a five-year plan to bear down on crime and disrupt the supply of and demand for harmful drugs. That strategy must expand enforcement powers, such as stop and search; review the role of the National Crime Agency in tackling drug supply; and invest in early intervention.”

In a new report, the Institute argued that the Home Office, which is responsible for policing, has been uncertain about its role since Police and Crime Commissioners were created in 2012.

It said police funding had been cut, leading to the loss of 20,000 police officer posts across the country. And it highlighted cuts to youth services which, it said, damaged attempts to prevent crime.

The thinktank said police should have more powers to tackle knife possession and drug dealing. And it said the National Crime Agency and local police forces should make it a priority to disrupt harmful drugs markets, such as heroin and crack cocaine.

The West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner, David Jamieson, said: “I welcome this report. It is high time West Midlands Police is given the resources it needs.”

A report earlier this year by West Midlands Assistant Chief Constable Sarah Boycott and Assistant Chief Constable Sue Southern, presented to the West Midlands Police Strategic Policing and Crime Board, warned: “Knife crime, including robbery, has steadily increased since the summer of 2015 and there has been an increase in the number of injuries and fatalities among the regions young people.”

It continued: “Birmingham in particular, has seen elevated levels of knife crime where a knife is used to threaten and where injury is inflicted, with figures now at the highest they have been in eight years.

“While knife crime offences are not solely confined to the city centres... knife crime continues to be a significant issue for the Birmingham geography as a whole.”

Birmingham in particular, has seen elevated levels of knife crime

West Midlands Police