Dedicated team aims to maximise the impact of Knife Angel's anti-violence visit

8 October 2025

A Hertfordshire Police Federation member has spoken about the work being done to protect vulnerable young people as the county welcomes the striking Knife Angel.

Sergeant Helen Croughton, from the Force’s Child Criminal Exploitation (CCE) Prevention and Diversion Team, has more than 100 youth engagement events planned to coincide with the monument's visit.

Standing 27ft tall, weighing 3.5 tones and made up of 100,000 knives seized by 43 UK police forces, the Knife Angel will be in Welwyn Garden City town centre throughout October.

It is a powerful national symbol against violence, and Hertfordshire Constabulary is marking its arrival with an intensive programme of youth engagement led by Detective Inspector Sarah Shannon, Sergeant Croughton and the CCE Prevention and Diversion Team.

 

 

The team works with young people up to 18 who are at risk of criminal exploitation. This could include early-stage offending, involvement in county lines, and carrying weapons.

They intervene through police referrals, custody visits, intensive one-to-one support from a CCE Prevention and Diversion team officer and community engagement, aiming to guide young people towards safer and more positive paths.

Helen explained: “Sometimes it’s the parents or guardians who are desperate to help their children, and sometimes it’s the young people who reach out.

“When we meet them in custody, away from their peers, the reality is they’re alone and terrified.

Weapons

“A lot of these young people, if they’re carrying weapons, it’s generally out of fear.”

“Whether they can drop their barriers and their persona enough to admit they need help depends on the young person. 

“Our Officers have excellent communication skills, which help break down those barriers”

Helen said the team’s role was to offer young people a way forward to prevent or stop criminal behaviour.

“Engagement is voluntary,” she said. “But when young people or their parents choose to work with us, we can help them reduce missing episodes, get back into education, prevent further offending, and find healthier activities through partner agencies such as sports or arts.”

Helen said the team is making a real difference to people’s lives.

Hands-on

“As the sergeant of the unit, I don’t do as much of the hands-on work as my colleagues” she explained.

“But I see the real personal pride and satisfaction of officers.

“I see the ongoing relationships with young people.

“I see how our officers and young people engage with each other at events.  I see their progress and the reports that come back from mentors and teachers, and the testimonials from parents.

“We’re not just talking about numbers; we’re talking about people’s lives.”

Alongside the Knife Angel’s arrival, the team has planned more than 100 youth engagement events across Hertfordshire.

Workshops

These will include school visits, community sessions including music workshops, virtual reality workshops and first aid workshops, and outreach at sporting venues. It began with a launch event at Stevenage FC’s League One game with Exeter City at the Lamex Stadium last weekend.

Officers were encouraging young fans to sign up as anti-violence ambassadors. The aim is to recruit 10,000 young people across the county to pledge against violence.

Helen said: “We’ve put a lot of work in over the past three months to create impactful and meaningful youth engagement. Our team is doing an incredible amount of work.

“The Knife Angel is a national monument of peace and reflection, but it comes with a responsibility.

“Hosting it means committing to a month of intensive anti-violence work and then a year of legacy activity.

“This only further builds upon the prevention and engagement work that we have been doing for the past six years.

Impact

“We might be a small team, but the impact we can have is huge.

As a parent, Helen says the work has taken on a deeper resonance.

“With a lot of our young people, the parent in you wishes their circumstances were different because, had they been, they may not have found themselves in the situations they’re in,” she said.

“It makes me even more determined to give other young people the chance to make different choices.

“Sometimes it only takes one person to believe in you and demonstrate that change is possible, one person to follow through on their actions and not let that young person down.”

The Knife Angel sculpture aims to raise awareness about the consequences of knife crime and violence and to spark conversations about the need for social change and peace.

More information about the monument and the programme of events is available on the Hertfordshire Police website.

READ MORE: Fallen officers honoured at National Police Memorial Day.