Cleveland Police has launched a campaign to deter young people from carrying a blade, as it is revealed knives have been involved in the killing of six people in Teesside in the last 12 months.
The force have launched phase two of their campaign ‘Carrying a Blade Doesn’t Give You an Edge’ a year on from their initial outreach programme; the first phase included education and engagement sessions in schools.
This phase of the campaign focuses on two children whose lives are both impacted and changed forever by knife crime. One child is the victim of a knife attack and the other is the perpetrator committing the crime.
Both are living their daily lives and going to school, until one day it all changes and the boys disappear to an entirely different life – one child has died after being stabbed with a blade and the other is in prison for committing the crime. Cleveland Police hopes the video will encourage young people to understand the dangers and devastating consequences of carrying blades.
In the year since the launch of the initial campaign, between October 2023 to October 2024, police received 503 reports of violence with injury that involved a blade. 154 of those offences involved young people aged 14 to 24. Knives were involved in the killing of six people in Teesside during the same period.
Assistant Chief Constable, Richard Baker said: “This phase of the campaign is a hard-hitting and true reality for young people. In the blink of an eye, following a bad decision to carry a knife, young lives can change forever.
“Evidence is clear that a child that carries a knife is more likely to become a victim of knife crime, whether that’s being seriously injured, or worse lose their life. If they themselves use the knife the reality is they will get caught and then face a substantial amount of time in prison.”
When asked if the first phase of the campaign had been a failure, a spokesperson for Cleveland Police said that there has been a 23% reduction in knife crime and serious violence over the last 12 months. It should be noted that Cleveland still has one of the highest knife crime rates per capita out of all police force areas in the country.
The spokesperson added “Preventing and deterring young people from carrying a knife and committing serious violence is one of our top priorities”. They said there is a lot of work going on “behind the scenes” including “collaboration and innovation with partners and communities to educate on the dangers and devastating consequences of knife crime”.
“We also know it is vital that officers are visible in our neighbourhoods and get to know all corners of the community, while also working to fully understand all of the contributing factors that often lead young people to carry a blade or cause serious violence.
“Officers continue to engage with children and young people by visiting schools and colleges as well as the Youth Offending Team who provide a range of services to help move away from a criminal life. This all plays a huge part in contributing to reducing knife-crime related violence to make Teesside an even safer place for young people to live and work both now and in the future.”
You can find more information about Carrying a Blade Doesn’t Give You an Edge and what Cleveland Police is doing to prevent knife crime as well as how you can seek help to move away from it here.
