Several news outlets and organizations in Bristol have signed an open letter calling for action to end knife crime in the city. The initiative was sparked by many fatal stabbings across the city in recent years, including the murders of 15 and 16-year-old boys in January and February of this year, and numerous non-fatal attacks on other teenagers. The letter calls upon the city to unite and say “enough is enough” to knife crime.
The document calls attention to the fact that knife crime has been worsened by cuts to vital youth services. The signatories plan to raise awareness, get knives off the street, and hold people in power to account for the fatal attacks on young people. “All this comes after 2023, a year in which there was an incident involving a knife on average more than once a week,” the letter said.
The open letter outlines six points of action, including setting up a community-driven task force to meet and discuss the issue, developing initiatives to get knives off the streets, and raising awareness of how knife crime is linked to poverty, education, employment, social exclusion, and the collapse in youth services. The letter also calls for the Online Safety Bill to be reviewed to see if it goes far enough in addressing harmful knife-related content on social media and how easy it is for children to access such content.
Several individuals and groups have signed the letter so far, including Bristol Live, Bristol 24/7, The Cable, knife crime campaigner Leanne Reynolds, and representatives from Empire Fighting Chance and Bristol Rovers Community Trust. The senior editor of Bristol Live, Pete Gavan, who came up with the idea for the letter, said he wanted it to be “community-driven and led by those who know most about it
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