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Prevent knife crime

Knife crime has a devastating impact on our communities. We work year-round with partner agencies to tackle knife carrying and knife-related harm, diverting young people away from serious violence and educating on safer decision-making.

Carrying a knife will not keep you safe. You are more likely to be hurt by your own knife than by anyone else’s – even if you do not intend to use it. A knife can escalate a conflict situation.

The possession of a knife or a bladed weapon in a public place is a criminal offence, whether you use the knife or not.

Self-protection is not a reasonable excuse for carrying an offensive weapon. If you are found carrying a knife, you could face up to four years in prison. Your sentence will be much longer if you injure or kill someone. 

Only a small minority of young people choose to carry a knife. While we know this only around one in 100 young people, the police are committed to educating all young people about the dangers of knives and weapons.

There is no safe place to stab someone. If a blade hits a major artery or an organ, there may be tragic consequences. Even a small blade can be a fatal weapon. 

Stop knife crime

Someone I know carries a knife

If you suspect or are concerned about someone you know who carries a knife, report it to a trusted person such as a:

  • teacher
  • trusted adult
  • parent or other family member
  • guardian

You, or someone on your behalf, can report the use of knives and weapons to the police.

The Fearless website, which is part of Crimestoppers, offers advice and support on what to do if you are worried about many different types of crime, including knife crime.

You can give information 100 per cent anonymously either:

Call agents will not ask you for personal details, and the information you provide will be passed to the police without revealing your identity.

The Ben Kinsella Trust offers practical advice in a free guide for parents, carers, and professionals on how to talk to young people about knife crime.

I want to stop carrying a knife

If you already carry a knife or feel pressured into carrying one, Childline can offer you help and advice.

You can also safely and anonymously dispose of your knife in a surrender bin. These are located across the Avon and Somerset force area.

Find out more about knife surrender bins below.

Knife surrender bins

To safely dispose of a knife or bladed weapon, you can anonymously place them in our knife surrender bins.

We will not follow up nor contact you unless there is evidence to suggest the knife is linked to a crime.

By using our secure bins, you are helping prevent these dangerous items from getting into the wrong hands.

The knives will be destroyed, and some are smelted down into alloy ingots and sold to help fund knife crime prevention initiatives.

Before you surrender a knife or a bladed weapon

  • Wrap it in something, such as a towel, and carry it in a bag to prevent injury
  • Make a specific journey to dispose of it, rather than carrying the item in public for longer than necessary
  • Consider going in daylight hours for your own safety

Police and local authority locations

These surrender bins are situated outside of police or local authority buildings. They are available 24/7 and are not monitored.

Community locations

These surrender bins are situated within our communities in areas requested by members of the public.

  • Brunswick Square, York Street, St Paul’s, Bristol
  • Castle Park, Bristol City Centre (near the church grounds, opposite the entrance to The Galleries)
  • Stapleton Road, Bristol (underneath the train station bridge)
  • The Park Centre, Daventry Road, Knowle, Bristol, BS4 1DQ

If you would like to see a community surrender bin in your local area, get in touch with your local Neighbourhood Policing Team.

Immediate danger

Call 999 if there is an ongoing incident involving a knife or bladed weapon.

Working with young people

We take a multi-agency approach, working alongside health and social care partners, local authorities, support services, and our communities.

Avon and Somerset Violence Reduction Partnership

We work closely with the Avon and Somerset Violence Reduction Partnership (VRP) to help tackle serious violence through early intervention and education.

The VRP covers the five local authority areas in the force area – Bristol, Bath and North East Somerset, North Somerset, Somerset, and South Gloucestershire.

Each VRP works to identify those most at risk of becoming involved in serious violence, whether that is someone being harmed or causing harm, taking a child-centred approach and recognising the vulnerabilities that surround this.

Many children involved in serious violence are victims themselves. They may be exposed to exploitation and grooming, poverty, discrimination, bullying or peer pressure and other harmful influences.

We work with communities, parent and carers, and educators around young children to understand what is best for an individual, and the risks posed to each child.

Interventions might include:

  • mentoring
  • training young people to deal with conflict
  • upskilling professionals who work with young people
  • funding sports and youth services
  • delivering educational sessions to parents, schools and young people about knife crime
Lifeskills safety education

We work closely with the Avon and Somerset Violence Reduction Partnership (VRP) to help tackle serious violence through early intervention and education.

The VRP covers the five local authority areas in the force area – Bristol, Bath and North East Somerset, North Somerset, Somerset, and South Gloucestershire.

Each VRP works to identify those most at risk of becoming involved in serious violence, whether that is someone being harmed or causing harm, taking a child-centred approach and recognising the vulnerabilities that surround this.

Many children involved in serious violence are victims themselves. They may be exposed to exploitation and grooming, poverty, discrimination, bullying or peer pressure and other harmful influences.

We work with communities, parent and carers, and educators around young children to understand what is best for an individual, and the risks posed to each child.

Interventions might include:

  • mentoring
  • training young people to deal with conflict
  • upskilling professionals who work with young people
  • funding sports and youth services
  • delivering educational sessions to parents, schools and young people about knife crime
Blunt Truth workshops

Blunt Truth is our collaboration with the NHS.

The workshops are delivered in schools to pupils in Years 7, 8 and 9 to:

  • encourage them to report, if they know someone is carrying a knife
  • educate them on the consequences of carrying a knife
  • offer practical first-aid skills to help if someone has been stabbed

Children watch a film showing different outcomes, if they do the ‘right thing’ and report concerns that someone they know is carrying a knife, compared with the tragic consequences of not reporting and seeing an incident play out.

We then have an open discussion with the children, offering advice on who to go to if they are concerned, before NHS colleagues provide hands-on first-aid training.

Emergency bleed kits

Members of the public, business owners, councils and community groups can buy a bleed kit from the Avon and Somerset Bleed Kit partnership via HeartSafe.

Each bleed kit has an easy-to-use first-aid kit containing:

  • haemostatic dressings
  • trauma dressings
  • a tourniquet to help stem the loss of blood in the critical first few minutes of a catastrophic bleed
  • a colour-coded action card with information matching 999 call taker advice; this provides extra clarity in times of extreme distress for those calling 999

When a 999 call is received regarding a person bleeding heavily, call takers can escalate the call to gain clinician support, and the caller can be directed to a bleed kit if one is local.  

Each partnership kit is assigned a ‘guardian’ to keep an eye on it. If a kit has been used or damaged, a new one can be requested via a QR code inside the dispenser.

A volunteer driver from Avon and Somerset Police will check and replace it as soon as possible.

While the kit is out of service, it will be automatically removed from the emergency service mapping system. 

If you have a question or want more details, email communitybleedkit@avonandsomerset.police.uk

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