Stunning Knife Angel is a 'monument for social change'

22 December 2023

West Midlands Police Federation chair Rich Cooke says the consequences of knife crime can devastate communities as he welcomed the Knife Angel to the Force area.

Standing 27ft tall, weighing 3.5 tones and made up of 100,000 knives received from 43 UK police forces, the Knife Angel is in Gallery Square in Walsall until 28 December.

Rich said more must be done to tackle knife crime as he praised the success of members in Coventry, where a violence reduction programme has led to a big drop in youth knife crime.

Rich said: “The Knife Angel stands as a monument for social change that we all want to see - an end to knife crime and knife violence.

“It’s a really moving sculpture, particularly when you think of all the children who have been killed through knife violence.

“I’ve seen the devastation it causes in communities, and what frustrates me is the lack of attention that's given to it from the powers that be.

<PIC CREDIT: Dean Wainwright>

“People say it’s a tragedy, another child has been murdered in the street, but it’s only paid lip service.”

In Coventry, the Community Initiative to Reduce Violence (CIRV) was launched in the city in April, and has seen the number of serious incidents involving knives drop by 42 per cent in its first six months compared to the same period in 2022.

CIRV is an intervention programme which aims to reduce violence by identifying those most likely to be involved in it.

The project targets mostly young people suspected of or who are impacted by gangs and county lines drug dealing.

It works with them to highlight the consequences of violence for them and others, and supports them to move away from it through help with things such as housing issues, debt, addiction, or access to education.

“They’ve had some quite significant initial success with the scheme in Coventry, which is really good,” Rich said.

“It’s a more intensive offender management, and identifying kids and adults who are vulnerable to knife crime.

“It’s what we mean when we talk about good local policing, when traditionally you’d know your offenders in your area.

“But we can’t do it simply because of lack of resources in comparison to the population increases.

“It’s early days, but they’ve had a lot of money put into it and it’s getting results.

“They’ve recruited skilled officers into those roles, who have the right experiences and know what they’re doing.

“When you get the bobbies in the right places they can get results.

“This sort of approach needs to be sustained and rolled out in other areas

“At the moment it’s patchwork but it shows the potential impact we could make on knife crime in society if we were able to focus resources like that in other places.”

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