MERSEYSIDE Police said is was “obviously disappointed” to have seen a rise in overall knife crime but stressed you were less likely to be a victim of knife crime in Merseyside than areas such as Greater Manchester, West Midlands and London. It said knife related woundings were down 9% from 2007/08 to 2008/09.
Officers have carried out 752 safety arch operations covering more than 69,000 people, with 975 people being arrested for possession of an offensive weapon, since the programme began in July 2008.
Assistant Chief Constable Helen King said: "We will continue to pioneer new ways to reach out to those young people in the 13-19 age range who have been or may be affected by knife crime. Merseyside sees an average of seven incidents of knife enabled violence per month amongst the under 20s, a figure we are determined to decrease as even one incident on knife crime is one too many.”
The force said new IT systems and changes in recording crime prevented a one-year comparison.
