Knife crime in Sussex

Almost one-third of knife-enabled crime in Sussex involves children as either the offender, suspect or victim.

The information was shared by Chief Constable Jo Shiner during a performance and accountability meeting with Police & Crime Commissioner Katy Bourne.

CC Shiner reported that just under 31% of knife-enabled crime in the last rolling year involved a child under 18.

She described the figure as ‘quite high’ given the efforts made to raise awareness of the dangers and consequences of carrying a knife.

Stressing that the work  – which included officers going into schools and colleges – would continue, she added: “There is a role for everybody here- it’s about parents, guardians, it’s about local authorities, education – anybody who can have an influence, particularly on young people, in terms of trying to turn them away from carrying a knife or becoming involved in anything where there might be knife-related crime has to be a priority for us all as communities.”

Knife crime is a complex area for the police. Knife-enabled crime is not the same as knife possession. It only involves an actual knife, not other sharp weapons, and does not include things such as making threats.

The amount of such crime increased by 2% nationally in 2024 – up 1,100 offences – compared to 2023. In Sussex, the increase was just under 1% – ten more offences in 2024 than in 2023.

CC Shiner said the Force was in ‘a reasonable place’ but warned that the figures had slightly increased over the last six months.

On the subject of Zombie knives, which were banned in the UK last September, her feelings were clear.

She said: “There is only one thing that those knives are destined to cause and that is serious injury and, frankly, catastrophic injuries as well, leading to death.”

Speaking about the consequences of being caught carrying a knife, she added: “Sometimes I’m not sure that young people in particular understand some of the consequences of that. It could be a criminal record, it could be prison – but it also could be that countries such as the USA and Canada won’t allow people in, even on holiday, if they’ve got a conviction for knife carrying.

“Please surrender knives at a local station or phone in, give intelligence or other information, if you know people are out there carrying these hideous weapons, because it’s really important that we take them off the streets.”

This week is Knife Crime Awareness Week. Amnesty bins are in police stations across the county, and Sussex Police will visit schools and colleges and increase the number of test purchases it carries out in shops to ensure knives are not being sold to children.

CC Shiner said: “It’s a whole host of different activities to highlight the devastation that knife crime can bring and to highlight the fact that we will pro-actively hunt out those people who are carrying knives in order to bring misery, frankly, to other people’s lives.”