Two gangs may be linked to rise in Bristol stabbings - according to senior police officer
They've reportedly drawn the attention of the National Crime Agency
Last updated 29th Feb 2024
Street gangs in Bristol may be behind a rise in knife crime in Bristol - according to a senior police officer
The gangs have not been named but Superintendent Mark Runacres from Avon and Somerset Police said the National Crime Agency is aware of the two organised crime groups.
Data showing the hotspots for serious knife crime suggest they are operating mainly in the east Bristol area.
The recent alleged double-murder in Knowle West is not thought to be linked to the same two gangs.
Councillors on the communities scrutiny commission at Bristol City Council were given an update on community safety during a meeting on Tuesday, February 27.
Mr Runacres said: “It’s a very different environment and space than in Knowle West and what happened in that awful incident.
"That had no links to any other wider and ongoing risk of serious violence, but what we’ve had in east Bristol more recently … there are connections between those incidents.
“There’s recently been some work we’ve done with the National Crime Agency.
People sometimes shy away from using the word ‘gangs’, but we have two urban street gangs in Bristol that have been confirmed by the National Crime Agency.
“Young people who are involved in those gangs present a very high level of risk around serious violence.
Police don’t believe that the stabbings of the two teenagers in Knowle West were linked to the two gangs in east Bristol, according to the superintendent.
Meanwhile, the problem of knife crime can’t be solved by the police alone.
That is according to Christina Gray, director of public health and communities at the council, who says young people sometimes carry knives out of fear.
Ms Gray said: “What we’ve been strengthening over the last six months is the multi-agency response.
"It’s really important that we’re working with and for the communities, with and for those young people, so it’s a communities-first approach.
"We can only do this as a city, we can only do it if we do it together, and if we’ve got respect from the communities at the heart of this.
“We cannot police our way out of this.
"We’ve got to come together as a city, as communities, to understand what the motivations are, and we need to be working with families.
"Certainly in central and east Bristol, young people are carrying knives because they are afraid or because they’re associating with another group.”