Bristol mayor asks university to help tackle knife crime

Marvin Rees said Bristol City Council is "working to build communities" while tackling knife crime

A city mayor has asked university academics to use their "intellectual firepower" to help tackle knife crime.

Bristol Mayor, Marvin Rees, faced questions about what the council was doing to solve the issue during a meeting of the member forum.

He said Bristol City Council takes a public health approach, with a number of initiatives being employed.

Mr Rees said he had asked for the University of Bristol's input during a meeting at City Hall.

"One of the things we asked the University of Bristol to do is with their policy team and their intellectual firepower, can they put that at the disposal of the city," he said.

"Being more rigorous and insightful and using data better was at the heart of a meeting we had last Friday, with the universities, police, and the voluntary sector," added Mr Rees.

He said the Trojan Free Fighters, Growing Futures and Empire Fighting Chance are among the organisations taking knives from young people in Bristol, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

Fear of crime

In a recent council survey, 21% of Bristol residents said fear of crime affects their daily lives.

That has risen from 16% in 2021 and 17% in 2022.

The survey also showed the percentage of people who feel the police and public services are successfully tackling crime and anti-social behaviour has dropped, from 28% in 2021, to 21%.

Mr Rees told the meeting on 12 March: "We're not just working to prevent knife crime, we're working to build communities. There is a conundrum at the heart of public health approaches as well.

"It's very difficult to prove that something didn't happen because you did something, to prove that negative."