The United Kingdom has for years been striving to tackle Knife crime, a menace that has taken a number of lives and injured many. In the year ending September 2022, 197378 knife and offensive weapon offences were formally dealt with by the CJS. Although this figure represented a 5% decrease from the previous year, these numbers are still alarming and leave much to be worried about.

According to the ONS, at least 1,000 young people have been killed by knife crime in the last 15 years.

Bristol has been one of the cities that have been hit hard by this menace and it is highly common in black and minority communities.

This concern opened up the conversation on the safety and security of young black people in the city and thus required that stakeholders whose jobs are to ensure the security of people including the youth in our cities and communities consistently collaborate to arrest this issue.

Just recently, a young budding music talent and a student, Eddie Kinuthia was murdered by unknown persons with a knife, and this crime  sent fright and fear among both the young and adults in Bristol, especially in the African and Caribbean communities.

Statistics from ONS indicates that 70% of offenders who are mostly juvenile are first-time knife crime culprits and the majority of their victims are young people. This shows how vulnerable these young people are and the need to take education to the grassroots.

African Voices Forum at the back of this information and in honoring Eddie  organized  a symposium dubbed the “SAFETY & SECURITY OF YOUNG  PEOPLE IN BRISTOL”, an event that brought security agencies, officials of the council, civil society organisations, NGOs among other to engage young people in finding lasting and sustainable solutions to dealing with this menace.

The event drew over 50 young people and other stakeholders together, and it was a interactive engagement where critical concerns were raised and viable solutions were discussed.