North East surgeon spearheading renewed anti-knife crime efforts
It's as we mark Knife Crime Awareness Week
A hospital surgeon has described the continued battle for youngsters’ hearts and minds at the launch of a new anti-knife crime initiative.
Vascular surgeon Barney Green, who works at Middlesbrough’s James Cook University Hospital, is one of a number of volunteers who give up their own time to deliver educational workshops as part of a programme across the North-East.
Mr Green was present at Middlesbrough FC’s Riverside Stadium for the launch of an action plan developed by the Cleveland Unit for the Reduction of Violence (CURV), a local partnership funded by the Home Office.
He said: “We often talk about the NHS being heroes, for me the hero is a child who says ‘I’m not going to do that, I’m not going to carry a knife, I’m actually going to do something positive’.
“This is genuinely what is going to change society.
"Every injury is a tragedy but when life is so young, when it's ended needlessly and senselessly, that genuinely does hurt.
"Telling a family that their loved one has died is never easy. It doesn't matter how old they are. You can do it 1,000 times and yet it still is difficult.
"It would be awful for us to become automated and just deliver the news. That means nothing. Actually, we're emotional, we're human and actually going to a family, crying with them, holding their hand and being part of that journey, it's part of us as well but there is an emotional toll and I don't quite know how we get through it every day but we do."
The plan, supported by Cleveland Police and Crime Commissioner Matt Storey, sets out how local partners will work together in educating and engaging young people early in order to offer positive alternatives to violence and help them avoid involvement in knife crime.
Mr Green carried out mock life saving first aid on the Riverside pitch using fake blood and other paraphernalia.
A football themed inflatable knife crime education wall, developed by the MFC Foundation in partnership with the surgeon, was on display.
The concept sees participants kick a velcro football at inflatable figures – whichever part of their body the ball sticks to is then explained in the context of potentially life-threatening injuries that can be caused by knives and other sharp implements.
Also on display were so-called ‘bleed cabinets’ – of which there are now about 20 dotted around Cleveland’s four boroughs, typically on high streets and in town centre areas.
They were introduced to the area, in conjunction with the PCC, at the behest of Redcar and Cleveland councillor Peter Grogan who saw them in operation elsewhere.
The kits provide materials for people who have witnessed a stabbing and received a modicum of training in order to potentially offer assistance.
This includes scissors to cut away clothing to get to the injured area, different types of gauze with blood-stopping properties, bandages, and tourniquets, a strap which can be twisted around limbs to stop blood flow.
Mr Green said: “We have had some brilliant responses to the educational work, young people who come from troubled backgrounds and have ideas about what authority figures might be like, to see them change and to act as role models for the programme, that is the value of something like this.”
PCC Mr Storey said knife crime was one of his “top priorities”.
Cleveland has the third highest rate for knife crime in England and Wales, although the number of offences involving young people aged 24 and under fell by 12% from 305 to 268 last year.
He said: “The ultimate goal of the knife crime action plan is to build on the work already being done to make sure individuals have the tools and support to avoid them becoming involved in knife crime and serious violence.
“The plan has a strong focus on engagement with young people and education in schools which I believe is a crucial part of the whole system approach to tackle knife crime and drive down serious violence across Cleveland.
“We’ll continue to work with partners, local organisations, subject matter experts, victims and their families, those with lived experience of violent crime and young people to reduce the horror these incidents inflict on our communities.”
Mr Storey said while knife crime had fallen, “there is more we can do” and creative, imaginative solutions were needed that could engage with local communities and did not just lecture young people.
In March a multi-agency knife crime summit hosted by the PCC discussed some of the issues and potential solutions to knife crime.
Meanwhile, Cleveland Police said 140 people had been arrested in the last 12 months for possession of a knife or bladed article, while over the same period 306 robberies had occurred involving a knife or bladed weapon.
The force is this week taking part in Operation Sceptre, a national initiative focused on knife crime.
In Cleveland members of the public have been invited to surrender dangerous knives at amnesty bins at main police stations in Middlesbrough, Redcar, Stockton and Hartlepool.
Acting Detective Inspector Sarah Beadle said: “Everyday police officers see first-hand the devastating effects of carrying bladed weapons.
“It is particularly concerning to see young people involved and hurt in these crimes, but we will do all we can to engage, educate and encourage them not to carry a knife.
“The force works closely with partners to identify the root causes of knife crime, educate young people on the dangers of carrying a bladed weapon and engage with our communities.
“We have officers patrolling in high harm areas at the right times, targeting those suspected of carrying a knife or bladed weapon with stop and search in order to remove weapons from our streets and prevent crime before it happens.”