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tKap Bulletin
Sent to Police, Government Offices, OGDs, and partners. Please share this
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Update from JUstIn rUssell, Head of Violent Crime Unit, Home Office
One of the key elements contributing to TKAP’s success has been the
identification and adoption of effective practice which is proven to successfully
address serious youth violence. Operation Portcullis is one such example.
Originally devised by South Yorkshire Police Operation Portcullis sees a range
of partners working together to ensure the safety of young people as well as
cracking down on all forms of violence (and ASB) in a single evening. South
Yorkshire’s recent operation led to 38 arrests and no incidents of violence,
including alcohol-related violence, being reported on a Saturday night. Given that
police in Sheffield would usually expect six to eight serious violent incidents in
one evening there is no doubt of the success of the operation.
This month sees the start of a further 12 Operation Portcullis style operations
taking place in TKAP areas which have been directly funded by the programme.
The first operation took place in Hackney on 11 th February. Each operation
starts in the early evening with Operation Staysafe aimed at engaging young
people and signposting them to positive activities. If a young person is found
not to be safe, officers will either decide to take them home, to a designated
place of safety or if appropriate into custody. Later in the evening, the operation
switches focus onto tackling alcohol-related crime and violence and sees
the police working alongside local authority licensing officers and UKBA staff
to tackle weapon carrying, alcohol misuse, drug use, address irresponsible
licensed premises and identify those committing violence who are subject to
immigration control.
These operations, which tackle the spectrum of serious youth violence that
TKAP is committed to reducing, will run through until the end of March. The
outcomes will be captured both by the media, which has been interested and
broadly supportive of operations, and by the Home Office to be shared with
Ministers as well as with other police forces.
Issue 05, February 2010
ComInG Up…
22 nd february:
Roundtable on Tackling
Alcohol Related
Violence with senior
ACPO members hosted
by Alan Campbell MP.
22 nd february:
Third Annual European
Serious Organised
Crime Conference.
Includes a seminar on
tackling knife crime and
ACC Sue Fish will make
a keynote speech.
2 nd March:
Guns, Gangs and
Knives roundtable
with the Guns, Gangs
and Knives roundtable
with key stakeholders
and third sector
organisations hosted
David Hanson MP.
11 th March:
“Guns, gangs and
knives: Tackling serious
youth violence in
and around schools”
conference in London.
TKAP representatives
and ministers to attend

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Issue 05 – February 2010
latest statIstICs
QUArTErLY CrIME STATISTICS (PUBLISHED JAnUArY 2010)
During the period July to September 2009, there was an encouraging 12% fall in knife/sharp
instrument offences, compared with the same period in 2008. We particularly welcome the 33% drop
in knife/sharp instrument homicides from 81 to 54 cases, during July to September 2009, compared
with the same period in 2008. This builds on annual figures for 2008/09 which saw a 7% drop in
knife/sharp instrument homicides, compared with 2007/8.
Source: Home Office 2010, Crime in England and Wales: Quarterly update to September 2009
nHS ADMISSIOnS
The latest nHS admissions to hospital figures for all assault with injury were published on 9th February
by the nHS Information Centre. The figures include data on admissions in the target age group (13-24)
for the 12 months ending October 09 compared to the same period the previous year. The figures show
that there is a 3% increase across England, and also a 3% increase in both the TKAP and non-TKAP
areas. Full details can be accessed at http://www.hesonline.nhs.uk/Ease/servlet/ContentServer?siteI
D=1937&categoryID=1131
VIolent offender manaGement BooKlet
The Home Office has recently published a Violent Offender Management booklet containing examples
of good practice in offender management for those who are affected by or perpetrate violent crime as
individuals or as part of a gang or other criminal group. The booklet is intended to help ensure that
existing and emerging risk management approaches respond effectively to the needs of adults and young
people involved in violent offending behaviour. The booklet is available for you to download at http://www.
crimereduction.homeoffice.gov.uk/tackling_knives.htm
GUns, GanGs and KnIVes: taCKlInG serIoUs yoUth VIolenCe In and
aroUnd sChools
On Thursday 11 March 2010, DCSFs Youth Taskforce is hosting a “Guns, gangs and knives: Tackling
serious youth violence in and around schools” conference in London. While schools remain safe places for
young people, they are not immune to serious youth violence. As the universal service for young people, all
schools - including pupil referral units - have the opportunity not only to tackle head-on actual or potential
violence in and around school, but to work in partnership with other agencies, intervening early to prevent
such incidents from happening in the first place.
In many areas, schools, in partnership with other agencies, are delivering innovative approaches to
tackling serious youth violence and this conference showcases some of the best practical examples of this
kind of work, as well as providing a national forum to explore the key issues with DCSF and Home Office
Ministers and senior policy makers. Ministers will also take the opportunity to launch new guidance on
safeguarding children and young people who may be affected by gang activity, and the Damilola Taylor
Trust will launch a week of action in schools encouraging young people to sign a pledge not to carry knives.
registration will commence at 10:00, for an 11.00 start; the conference will close at 15:30. The event is
free of charge. If you would like to attend please register your attendance by completing the online booking
form at https://register.livegroup.co.uk/event/ytfyouthcrime

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Issue 05 – February 2010
aBUse In teenaGe relatIonshIps taCKled wIth new CampaIGn
A powerful new advertising campaign to challenge the attitudes of teenagers to violence and abuse in
relationships was launched on 15th February. The campaign, funded by the Home Office and Department
of Health, is part of a long-term communications plan announced in the Together We Can End Violence
Against Women and Girls strategy launched in november 2009. The campaign is made up of a series of
adverts which send a strong message to 13 to 18 year olds, highlighting the signs and consequences
of abuse, and challenging them to stop abusive behaviour or seek help. Adverts will run 15 February to
14 March across television and radio alongside viral adverts and posters. The adverts will direct young
people to the campaign website (www.direct.gov.uk/thisisabuse) which will provide information on abuse
in relationships and where to go for help. For further information on the campaign for stakeholders can be
found at www.crimereduction.homeoffice.gov.uk/teenrelationshipabuse/
tKap forCe area Updates
EnGAGEMEnT AnD rEASSUrAnCE
Lancashire
Packs of playing cards are being produced with
artwork carrying knife crime and violent crime
messages. Large numbers will be distributed during
March to the target 17 – 24 year old age group. The
cards have previously shown to achieve a high level
of impact amongst this group with the cards being
retained, used and circulated amongst peer groups
thus re-enforcing the messages carried.
Kent
Supported by funding from Government Office
South East, Kent Police will deliver their “It Doesn’t
Have to Happen” project for 30 secondary schools
from April to June 2010. This project will see each
Year 9 school group spend a whole day discussing
serious youth violence and its consequences. The
project will be supported by the students preparing
a positive media message for young people about
serious youth violence. The winning group will have
their messages turned into an advert which will be
aired across local Kent radio stations just before
summer holidays. This project is expected to reach
over 6,000 Kent students in the TKAP age range.
South Yorkshire Police
Barnsley Street Pastors were launched on 15th
January, with over 40 people coming forward
to start the training. Street Pastors is an interdenominational
Church response to urban
problems, engaging with people on the streets, in
particular young people who feel they are excluded
and marginalised. It was pioneered in London in
January 2003 by rev Les Isaac, Director of the
Ascension Trust, and has seen some remarkable
results, including drops in crime in areas where
teams have been working in locations around the
country. The Barnsley Street Pastors will go out on
their first mission on Friday 23rd April.
Merseyside Police
Merseyside Police has recently introduced a
new approach to consulting young people on the
issues of gun, knife and gang related criminality.
The project entitled “Youth Advisory Panels”
(YAPs) encourages young people to offer possible
solutions for the police to consider in driving
down serious youth violence. Working through
Safer Schools Partnerships in Merseyside, each
meeting of the Panel was fully representative
of the community it serves and was convened
in an outdoor setting with an alternative activity
associated with the consultation. Each YAP decided
which activity they wanted to do alongside the
meeting with activities ranging from a field visit to
Chester Zoo through to mountain biking and even
to a high ropes course visit at ‘Go Ape’.
Each consultation will be themed and the
first one which has just completed focused on
weapons carrying behaviour. The events were
a great success and Merseyside have collected
extremely valuable feedback on what they should
do differently to tackle the issue. This information

has been fed directly through Merseyside Police,
Force Youth Issues Group who have already
directed for changes to be made on how the force
communicates messages in the media about the
consequences of carrying a weapon. The next
consultation in the spring will focus on gun crime.
west midlands
Streetly and Walsall neighbourhood Watch has
created a unique partnership with West Midlands
Police by creating a Streetly Youth4em Community
Action Group, facilitated by neighbourhood watch
volunteers. PC Hall, force lead for Youth4em said
“Together with members of neighbourhood watch,
we have helped reduce ASB in the local park as well
as improving the relationship between young people
and neighbourhood police. Other partnerships
have come on board such as nHS, Youth Services,
Friends of the Parks and the local council. “The
young people have enjoyed BBQs, football games
and tugs-of-war. They have also had inputs from
Youth Services and the nHS on drugs, sex education
and keeping safe. They have been able to strike up
a rapport with local officers and police community
support officers and are now more aware of the work
neighbourhood watch does.”
As a result of this unique partnership, Government
Office West Midlands has donated £1,000 for
neighbourhood watch to spend on the Youth4em
and has been earmarked to fund a ‘Streetly’s Got
Talent’ show.
EnFOrCEMEnT
Northumbria
During January and February, northumbria Police
Public Protection Unit in Sunderland are working
with probation officers from northumbria Probation
Area to target offenders who have been convicted
of a violent crime involving a knife. As part of the
programme, police and probation officers will visit
those identified to find out their views on knife
crime and why they became involved in violent
crime. So far, the initiative is proving successful
with officers being able to stop people from re-
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Issue 05 – February 2010
offending as well as gain an accurate picture of the
issues surrounding knife crime. Officers have also
been showing young people a DVD aimed at raising
awareness of the issue.
Lancashire
In Southern Division, proactive home visits, in
partnership with other agencies are being made to
offenders involved in knife crime offences and those
who have committed serious violence to ensure
that where relevant, interventions are put in place
to reduce the risk of re-offending. Home visits are
also taking place to offenders involved in violent
crime and anti social behaviour in conjunction with
local authority housing to consider warnings/eviction
proceedings. Also included are visits to vulnerable
youths at risk of offending or becoming victims.
Comprehensive intervention packages have been
compiled for the youths identified.
South Yorkshire
This month South Yorkshire Police work to tackle
knife crime is focusing on continuing to assist in
dealing with vulnerable premises, and ensuring
that during events where there may be risk of
disorder, officers are in place to advise the venue
of best practice and where necessary assist by
providing a visible presence on the night. The team
has continued to work closely with the various
door teams throughout the city centre, in order to
emphasise and highlight the need for thorough
searches when deemed necessary. Pro-Active
Policing of the under 18’s events throughout
January have been met with good response by both
the young people attending the events, and the
parents of those attending the venues.
Operation Tactic also ran on Hillsborough Corner
in Sheffield throughout January and is based on
high visibility patrol, licensed premises visits and
street briefings in full view of the public with the
aim of targeting more serious violent crime in the
Hillsborough area.

Finally, Operation Klean continues in the Parkhill
area of Sheffield, where there are continued
reports of young people congregating, drug
dealing and drug taking from local residents.
Officers conduct high visibility searches in the
areas concerned. They use their powers of stop
and search to target individuals suspected to be
carrying weapons.
South Wales
An operation targeting the drug dealing activity of
a street gang has reached the arrest and criminal
justice stage. The arrest phase of this operation
was partially funded via TKAP when the violent
history of many of those targeted was apparent.
Officers have arrested 24 suspected drug dealers in
Christmas raids across Cardiff. Of the 24 arrested,
19 were remanded into custody by the court and
five have been bailed.
merseyside
Merseyside Police’s Street Based Teams have been
in place since november 2009 and have already
achieved considerable success in driving down
anti-social behaviour and serious street violence
on a Friday and Saturday night. Three teams are
now up and running in Kensington, (Fire Service
run), Anfield and Toxteth. The Anfield team were
so successful on one estate in the Kirkdale area
of the City that they have already redeployed to
an alternative area as the significant anti-social
behaviour that was being experienced has now
almost disappeared.
The teams now benefit from ‘hotspot’ maps
provided by the Police each Friday to assist in
targeting their patrols more effectively. The teams
are also in mobile telephone contact with each
local neighbourhood Policing Team whilst out on
patrol and have the ability to provide an alternative
response should it be required.
South Wales
Following the development of the TKAP Problem
Profiles and Local Analysis, Swansea re-instigated
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Issue 05 – February 2010
a multi-agency `After Dark` de-brief to deal with
issues arising from the weekend night Time
Economy. The initiative has been developed to
target under age drinking and the fake use of
ID. Already a total of 356 IDs have been taken
from teenagers trying to gain entry to city centre
pubs and clubs since mid-September. People who
knowingly lend under-age drinkers driving licences
or passports so they can enter pubs in Swansea
are being warned they face being fined. Over 350
borrowed or stolen documents have been seized
from under 18s in the city centre in the past three
months. The Safer Swansea Partnership is now
working with the DVLA to come up with a way of
fining those who loan their IDs. The idea is they
would have to pay a fine when they go to retrieve
their documents from a police station.
PrEVEnTIOn
Bedfordshire
Police in Luton have enlisted the help of an
American speaker called The Scary Guy to talk
with young people about hate, violence, prejudice
and bullying. Bedfordshire Police, working in
partnership with schools within the town, have
invited the Scary Guy to support the force’s Safer
Schools campaign and it is hoped that young
people will listen to what he has to say about
the consequences of what they do or say. During
Scary’s visit to Luton he will be speaking to 11
to 13 year olds and giving his presentation and
unique workshops addressing issues such as
becoming involved in anti social behaviour, bullying,
gangs and violent crime.
Lancashire
Since the introduction of polycarbonate glasses
to licensed premises across the Borough of
Hyndburn there has been a 100% reduction in
violent crimes involving glassing. The evolution of
the scheme has seen the ownership of the project
transferred to ‘pubwatch’ so that the latest batch
of polycarbonates is distributed to members at
a reduced price. The Hyndburn licensing officer

is now looking to try to establish a ‘glass free’
Hyndburn with all licensed premises utilising the
polycarbonate glasses prior to the 2010 World Cup.
Further to the success of the scheme one premise
has looked at decanting bottled drinks straight into
polycarbonates prior to serving - a practice that it is
hoped to be expanded upon.
South Yorkshire
The Ecclesfield Safer neighbourhood Team joined
forces with its partners for a Week of Action in
Chapeltown. The initiative took place between
Monday January 18 and Sunday January 24, during
which six people were arrested. During this period
the South Yorkshire Police display bus visited various
locations including Ecclesfield School where pupils
spoke to police officers and PCSOs. Students were
also shown how knife arches work and received
crime prevention information and advice. Alcohol
test purchase operations were carried at 12
premises, three of which failed and received £80
fixed penalty notices. A drugs search dog was
also utilised to ensure that licensed premises
were drug free. Ecclesfield Safer neighbourhood
Team’s partners “Activity Sheffield” and “Sheffield
Futures” helped provide activities such as indoor
climbing, street dance, cheerleading and sports for
youngsters. Sheffield City Council’s Environmental
Health department also organised litter patrols and
fire-fighters from South Yorkshire Fire and rescue
carried out free home fire safety checks.
In the Burngreave area of Sheffield police have
been working with schools on a number of
initiatives including;
• Point 7 event aimed at illustrating the dangers
associated with weapon oriented crime to
young people aged 11 – 14 years old. This was
a partnership event with “Sheffield Futures”
and the Youth Offending Service. This tackles
weapon orientated crime, and illustrates the
dangers associated.
• A Court in the Act day which sees various
professionals being placed in the witness box
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Issue 05 – February 2010
in relation to their involvement with an offender
caught in possession of an offensive weapon.
This day involved 200 secondary school students.
Thames Valley Police
In the run up to Christmas, the Safer Milton Keynes
partnership set up an ‘After 8 Elf Service pit stop’
within the City Centre which was part funded by
TKAP. This consisted of a portacabin staffed by
volunteers from various agencies including St.
Johns, Ambulance, Police, and CDrP. The purpose
was to engage with the community, support
reduction in public place violence, reduce A&E
admissions and to promote health. With more than
200 visits to the Unit and many more engaged
outside, the initiative resulted in 24 ambulance call
outs and A&E admissions being averted. An overall
reduction in offences involving violence in the
City Centre during December was also achieved.
Importantly feedback indicates that a huge
measure of its success was the successful coming
together of all partners to make this intervention
project work.
west midlands
Secondary school pupils across Birmingham will
be able to access a confidential website allowing
them to report incidents happening in the school
or local community, thanks to funding from the
Safer Birmingham Partnership (SBP). The ‘SHArP’
system (School Help Advice reporting Page)
is already in 24 schools in the city and initial
feedback from pupils, parents and staff has been
very positive. Funding has been secured from the
SBP, for the system to be installed in the city’s 75
secondary schools, as well as six pupil referral
units and three special schools.
The system is also a powerful communications
tool, allowing police and partners to send safety
messages to young people. The SHArP system has
been designed to be user-friendly and accessible
to pupils, and can be accessed at home, school or
via mobile phone at any time. On the site, pupils
can access the confidential incident reporting

page. Their emails go directly to the inboxes of
the people nominated by the school as points of
contact, which could be teachers or school based
officers, who can either contact them in confidence
or log their concerns and act upon them. A school
based officer at Cockshut Hill School stated
“Thanks to SHArP I have dealt with approximately
35 incidents that would not have been reported
before.” SHArP was first introduced in 2007 and
is now installed in over 200 schools nationally and
cited as good practice in the Home Office Safer
Schools Guidance. For further information contact
Sgt Dobrovic at the SBP on 0121 464 6211 or visit
the website, www.thesharpsystem.com.
South Wales
A coalition of organisations including nacro,
Catch 22 and Addaction have come together to
commission a film called “The Fear Factory”. The
film highlights a disparity between public perception
and actual rates of youth crime, and the role of the
media in encouraging tough youth justice policies.
A screening of the film is being held in London
on 1st March at The Empire Cinema, Leicester
Square starting at 10.30am. The filming will be
followed by a “Question Time” format debate with
key commentators in the Justice field, including
Dominic Grieve, David Howarth, Chris roycroft-
Davies, Professor rod Morgan and Erwin James and
a representative from the Ministry of Justice (tbc).
If you are interested in attending follow this
invitation link http://www.spiritlevelfilm.com/
media/news/ff-invitation/index.html For more
information please see www.thefearfactory.co.uk
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Issue 05 – February 2010