Knife Crime, Weapons and Staying Safe

Understanding a reason is not the same as excusing it. Most young people never carry a weapon. Those who do usually give reasons like these:

• fear of being attacked
• bullying or direct threats
• pressure from friends, or from a gang
• county-lines involvement or other criminal exploitation
• being told that “everybody else is carrying” — which is usually untrue
• wanting status, respect or a feeling of protection
• retaliation after an earlier incident
• pressure, dares or provocation through social media
• holding or minding a weapon for someone else
• believing that adults, schools or the police will not protect them

Fear and coercion must be taken seriously. A young person can be at risk of committing an offence and be a victim of exploitation at the same time. Both things need to be dealt with — the risk of harm to others, and the harm being done to them.

If someone is being groomed, controlled or used by an older person or a group, please also read Gangs, County Lines and Keeping Young People Safe.

A knife cannot control what happens once it is introduced into a situation. Nobody carrying one can choose how frightened, angry or fast the next few seconds will be.

• A weapon can be taken and used against the person who brought it.
• Friends who were there may panic, run, or later give evidence. People rarely behave the way anyone expects.
• CCTV, mobile phones, messages, social-media posts, witnesses and forensic evidence can all become part of an investigation.
• Being investigated or convicted can affect education, travel, work and future opportunities — often in ways that are hard to predict when someone is sixteen.
• Even when nobody is injured, possession alone, or threatening someone, can have serious legal consequences.
• Helping, encouraging, supplying or storing a weapon for somebody else can also lead to investigation and prosecution.

Prison is not the only consequence, and it is not the most important one. A death cannot be undone. An injury can change how somebody walks, works or breathes for the rest of their life. Families are bereaved. Friends carry guilt. Witnesses carry what they saw. Whole neighbourhoods become frightened of places they used to walk through.

It is also important to be honest and accurate: a criminal record does not automatically stop every job, every university course or every journey abroad. What happens depends on the offence, the sentence, the disclosure rules that apply, how much time has passed, and the requirements of the employer, course or country involved. Some doors close, some do not, and some close for a period of years. Nobody can promise either that “nothing will happen” or that “your life is over”.

Please read this carefully, and do not act on assumptions. Do not simply set off through the streets carrying it, and do not walk into any police station with it unannounced.

• If there is immediate danger, do not move the weapon — move away if it is safe and call 999.
• Do not display it, threaten anyone with it, photograph it for social media, or pass it to another person.
• Contact your local police force on 101 for instructions before attempting to transport or surrender anything.
• Tell the call handler exactly what the item is and where it is.
• Follow the instructions the police force gives you.
• Do not take it to school, college, work or any other public place.
• Never leave it anywhere a child or another person could find it.

This page does not give handling, packaging, concealment or transport instructions. The police will tell you what to do in your area, and their instructions come first.

There is a widespread belief that every police station has a knife bin. That is not correct.

• Not every police station has a permanent surrender bin.
• Some forces have permanent bins at selected locations only.
• Other forces run temporary surrender or amnesty schemes at particular times.
• Opening hours and the items accepted vary between forces and locations.
• Contact your local police force, or check its official website, before moving anything.
• Ask the police how to surrender the item safely and lawfully.
• An amnesty or surrender scheme does not normally protect someone from investigation for a separate offence in which a weapon was used.
• Never carry a weapon around while searching for a bin. Carrying it to find a bin is itself a risk, and can be an offence.

Because locations and schemes change, this page does not publish a fixed national list. Use the official force finder instead.

None of the following proves that somebody is carrying a weapon. Young people change, become private and have bad weeks for many ordinary reasons. What matters is a pattern, a sudden change, or something that does not add up:

• talking about needing protection
• sudden fear about travelling through certain areas
• unexplained injuries
• carrying an unusually heavy or concealed item
• pressure from new associates
• threatening messages
• going missing
• unexplained money, phones or travel
• becoming frightened when a particular person calls
• talking about retaliation, or about “paying someone back”

How to approach it:

• Choose a calm, private time to talk, when there is no immediate danger.
• Listen before accusing. An interrogation usually closes the conversation down.
• Ask directly, and kindly, whether they are being threatened or are carrying anything.
• Do not search their clothes, bag or room if doing so could create danger, or destroy trust you will need later.
• Do not arrange a confrontation with a suspected gang, or with other parents.
• Contact safeguarding professionals — school, college, children’s social care or the police.
• Call 999 when a weapon is present or danger is immediate.

• Listen first. Shouting, threats or punishment as an opening move usually stops a frightened young person from telling you the rest.
• Take threats and exploitation seriously, even if the story seems exaggerated.
• Record concerning messages, dates and incidents where it is safe to do so — without confronting anyone or putting your child at risk.
• Contact the school or college designated safeguarding lead.
• Contact children’s social care if you suspect criminal exploitation.
• Report immediate danger to 999, and non-urgent concerns to 101.
• Get legal advice quickly if your child is arrested or is to be interviewed by the police, and mention any coercion, disability or communication needs.
• Get emotional support for yourself, for siblings and for other family members. This affects a whole household.

Do not handle, hide, move or dispose of a weapon yourself. Contact the police for instructions, and call 999 if anyone is in danger.

Safeguarding procedures exist precisely for these situations, and following them protects both the young person and the staff member.

• Record concerns factually, promptly and without speculation.
• Do not promise absolute confidentiality. Explain honestly that some information has to be shared to keep people safe.
• Involve the designated safeguarding lead or equivalent without delay.
• Escalate immediate danger to 999, and consider whether other people on site are at risk.
• Consider exploitation as well as offending — a young person may need a safeguarding response, not only a disciplinary one.
• Follow your organisation’s policies on information sharing and on working with police.

This page does not give instructions for searching or restraining a young person. Organisations must act within their legal powers and follow their own safeguarding procedures and professional guidance.

Simply announcing an intention to leave can create risk. It is safer to plan it with help than to do it alone.

• Speak privately to a trusted adult or a specialist service before making any announcement.
• Tell professionals about specific threats — who, what, when and how.
• Do not confront the group alone, and do not try to negotiate on your own.
• Review phone and social-media safety with appropriate help.
• Ask about safe travel, school or college arrangements, and about housing where relevant.
• Call 999 if you are threatened or followed.
• Ask for safeguarding support if you are under 18 or are being exploited.

Nobody can promise that leaving will be quick or risk-free. It is still usually the safest direction, and there are people whose job it is to help with it.

• Do not share or forward images of weapons to impress or frighten people.
• Do not arrange or agree to confrontations through group chats.
• Save evidence of threats when it is safe to do so, without repeatedly sharing it around.
• Use the platform’s reporting tools to report threats and weapon content.
• Tell a trusted adult, and tell the police.
• Immediate threats mean 999.
• Posts, messages, videos and old photographs can become evidence in an investigation long after they were sent.

If threats are happening at school or between pupils, see also School Bullying and Cyberbullying.

• Ask for a solicitor. Free independent legal advice at the police station is a right.
• Children and vulnerable people should have an appropriate adult present for interview.
• Tell the solicitor and the police about threats, coercion, exploitation, disability, communication needs or mental-health difficulties.
• Ask for reasonable adjustments where they are needed.
• Do not discuss the case on social media or in group chats.

This page is not a substitute for legal advice. For help finding a solicitor or understanding legal aid, see Solicitors and Legal Help.

People who are hurt, who witnessed something, or who have lost someone deserve support in their own right, for as long as they need it.

• Emergency and medical help comes first — 999 for serious injury, and A&E where needed.
• Information can be reported to the police on 101, or anonymously through Crimestoppers or Fearless.
• Victim Support helps victims and witnesses whether or not the incident was reported, and runs the Homicide Service for bereaved families in England and Wales.
• Trauma responses — flashbacks, sleeplessness, fear of going out, anger, numbness — are common and treatable. A GP can refer for talking therapy.
• Bereavement support is available, including specialist support after violent death.
• Please avoid retaliation, and avoid naming or accusing people publicly online. It can put others in danger and can damage an investigation.

Prevention works better when adults understand fear, trauma, exploitation, disability, poverty, racism and genuine local safety concerns — without excusing violence. Both parts matter. Understanding why a young person is frightened is not the same as accepting that carrying a weapon is acceptable.

This page does not blame any race, religion, neighbourhood, style of clothing or type of music. Doing so is inaccurate, and it makes young people less likely to ask for help.

It is also untrue that knife or firearm crime is committed only, or mainly, by young people. This page is youth-focused because early support and prevention make the biggest difference at that stage of life, not because young people are the problem.

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