Here's how Hampshire Police deal with youth knife crime

While not every stabbing between June 9 and June 19 involved youths, seven teenagers were arrested in connection with two of the stabbings and officers are continuing to search for who was responsible for a third incident.

The stabbings raised widespread concern, from Police and Crime Commissioner Donna Jones, to local residents we spoke to who wanted to know what police were doing to wipe out the scourge of knives on our streets.

READ MORE: Man injured in fourth stabbing in Southampton and Eastleigh this week

Inspector Sarah Nicholson, who is Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary's force lead for knife crime, said they will "relentlessly" pursue knife-wielders who threaten the city, regardless of their age.

But to young people in particular, she had the following message: "Are you under pressure to deal drugs or carry a knife? Are you already involved in a gang or crime? Are you already carrying a knife?

“If so, you may feel like your life is out of control like you're constantly looking over your shoulder and that there's no way out.

“You might think it'll be worse trying to get out of a gang and that you need to carry a weapon for protection. The truth is, it's more dangerous to keep going as you are.”

Between June 9 and June 19 June Police investigated five separate stabbings at a house in Stafford Road, Shirley; a flat in Canute Road in Ocean Village; Grantham Green Park, Eastleigh; Puffin Close, Lordswood and Burgoyne Road, Thornhill.

The incidents prompted Superintendent Phil Lamb to reassure residents that his officers would take action.

Police charged a 50-year-old man and a 15-year-old boy and arrested a 37-year-old woman, two 18-year-old men, and four boys aged between 14 and 16 in connection with four of the five incidents.

Police and Crime Commissioner, Donna Jones

Reacting to the stabbings, Donna Jones, Police and Crime Commissioner for Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, said: "I’m concerned about the recent knife crime incidents in Southampton. My thoughts are with the victims who must have been terrified by the attacks. A joint approach is being delivered in Southampton, working with the council to target the worst offenders, to address youth gang culture and to make the city safer."

The commissioner said she had used Home Office funding to start a Violent Crime Task Force - made up of police and other agencies - to tackle head-on why young people are committing "some of the worst crimes in our communities".

Insp Nicholson explained that aside from the scale of the police response to incidents - based on a 'robust' risk assessment by call handlers - officers also did a lot of work to prevent stabbings, ranging from school talks to getting into those hidden nooks of the community where crime could be lurking.

She said: “Our focus is on those vulnerable people living within our communities who could be targeted by others connected with drug and knife-related crime, which can have a devastating impact."

She said the help residents can provide is invaluable: “The information you give us helps us to build a real picture of what is going on and where we need to focus our resources."

Southampton Cops (Image: Southampton Cops)

Prior to the stabbings, the force focused its efforts on getting knives off the streets between May 15 to May 21 when it took part in a national, multi-agency campaign known as Operation Sceptre.

As well as working with businesses, charities, organisations, and schools to get that "early intervention" in with young people to prevent them getting involved in knife crime, officers in Southampton carried out 48 stop and searches and arrested 22 people – four of which were knife-related arrests.

There were also seven knives seized and four knife sweeps, which see officers scouring an area for hidden or discarded weapons.

'The problem is that kids these days aren’t active'

Neighbours who lived a stone's throw from where the stabbings took place voiced their opinion on how youth knife crime should be stamped out.

Flo Hope, 19, a social policy student at Swansea University living in Lordswood said: “The problem is that kids these days aren’t active; they have got nothing to do, and that’s why they go around stabbing people.

“This area needs more investment in youth activities. There are a couple of religious clubs in Portswood but we’re not religious so none of us go to those.

“Some of the children who live in impoverished areas become targets of gangs. So there’s work to be done so that vulnerable children get the support they need as well as more support for those in pupil referral units when they get kicked out of their schools.”

16970782 (Image: Newsquest)

James Dirtay, 69, from Lordswood, recommended heavier prison sentences to deter adults from carrying knives. While for children, he said youth clubs needed to be well-funded and they would take children away from violent crime.

He said: “Lots of them are playing computer games where they’re shooting and stabbing people which then leads some to do that very thing.”

Meanwhile, a woman who has lived in Thornhill for four years and chose not to be named said: “I think it’s an issue that starts at home.

“You have kids drinking and smoking in the park because while they grew up, they would see their parents do that and they grow up doing what they saw their parents do.”

For more information about youth knife crime, visit the Fearless website.