Community backing needed for knife crime reduction - police

Staff at a Leeds major trauma centre say they are concerned about the number of injuries they are treating from larger knives like machetes

People in West Yorkshire must take "personal responsibility" to help tackle knife crime, police have said.

The comment by Ch Insp James Kitchen came after staff at a Leeds hospital shared their concerns about the number of injuries from machete-style weapons.

West Yorkshire Police said while knife crime had decreased, it was down to communities to keep reporting it.

Ch Insp Kitchen said: "We must all work together as one community."

Speaking in a new BBC documentary, doctors at Leeds General Infirmary warned large blades like machetes can cause complex wounds and result in significant trauma.

Ch Insp Kitchen said that in the last five years, West Yorkshire Police had made more than 10,000 knife crime-related arrests and confiscated more than 2,500 bladed articles.

The force said that overall knife offences in 2022/2023 were 4% lower than in 2021/2022.

On The Front Line: The Knife Crime Emergency is available to watch on BBC iPlayer now.

Ch Insp Kitchen said people must be more "intrusive" with family and friends if they think they may be involved in knife crime, adding: "People need to take some personal responsibility for it."

"The police has a strong anti-knife message and that no person should carry a weapon," he said.

"We have a strong stance on it but we need communities to have the same stance."

The rise in the use of larger blades like machetes may be linked to street gangs and drugs, the force said.

Ch Insp Kitchen continued: "We need witnesses and victims of knife crime to report it and feel comfortable and safe that the police will do everything in their power to put that person to justice.

"We work with partners, third parties and communities and we are here for the people of West Yorkshire."