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Call for A&Es to join in knife crime fight

A policing chief has urged health bosses to work closer with the force to help tackle knife crime.

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Matthew Ellis

Staffordshire’s Police and Crime Commissioner Matthew Ellis has said some hospital A&Es in the county are not providing information about knife injuries to Staffs Police.

This can make it tougher for police to collect intelligence, according to Mr Ellis.

He said there had been a ‘worrying’ rise in the amount of people caught with knives in the county in recent months.

Mr Ellis said: “There has been a rise and the Youth Commission is doing a big piece of work on it.

“It is one of their priorities – working out why so many young people are determined to carry knives.

“One of the things that struck me was the issue of the NHS and hospitals co-operating with police.

“Two years ago there were issues with hospitals not providing information when they were people coming in with stab wounds.

“They said they were sorting it but it has been raised yet again as a big problem as far as intelligence is concerned.

“Police need to know about these injuries as on the second or third time somebody could get seriously injured.”

Mr Ellis has now urged hospitals and other organisations to work closer with police to help fight knife crime.

He said: “I am looking for agencies to come together and really start to work together to tackle the problem.

“It is about trying to deal with this before it become a big problem.

“At the moment it is a worry rather than an epidemic in Staffordshire.

“But if we don’t nip it in the bid it could turn into something we really don’t want.”

Staffordshire police have been cracking down on knife crime, taking part in the national Operation Sceptre campaign in February.

The week-long campaign saw proactive activity to tackle knife crime in the county, including high visibility patrols in areas where knife crime is more common.