‘The better we educate them now, the less police work to do later down the line’

27 August 2025

Delivering important messages around knife crime to young people has been part of a West Midlands PC’s ‘career rejuvenation’ as the face of the Force at a number of the region’s secondary schools and colleges in recent years. 

After two decades in response policing across areas such as Chelmsley Wood, Solihull and Coventry, PC Andy Blyth swapped the frontline for the classroom in 2023 when he became a schools intervention and prevention officer (SIPO).

Andy says an injury sustained in his previous role afforded him the opportunity to assess whether such duties were still right for him, prompting the eventual change.

His move into partnership work has seen him take on 10 secondary schools south of the Solihull borough as a policing role model for pupils, assuming responsibility for the building of relationships and promotion of positive pathways in life.

SIPOs will also typically provide advice and information around the law, with the aim of educating their audiences on the consequences of crime for both individuals and wider society.

This includes the acts of carrying and using knives, central topics to Andy’s guidance so far.

 

Schools intervention and prevention officer PC Andy Blyth.

 

“Of course, knife crime is as significant a social issue as ever, and the efforts never stop to show young people what its true impact can be,” he said.

“From the very first time I spoke about it, I felt the responsibility on my shoulders to provide them with something which would really make them take stock of what it means to carry such a weapon.

“The way my sessions are delivered is two-pronged – firstly, they can be whole-school, whole-year or class assemblies, where I will speak about areas like law changes and dangers, and implore pupils to realise they can always talk to us if they feel caught up in a situation related to knives in any way.

Good outcomes

“This can be daunting as it puts the onus on them, but it has brought about some good outcomes. One that springs to mind is when a pupil came forward with information about someone’s possession of a knife immediately after an assembly had finished.

“While it was obviously handled sensitively, the quick turnaround was encouraging to see in terms of the sort of influence I want to have in this role.”

Meanwhile, the other half of Andy’s work involves smaller focus groups, centred around the use of virtual reality headsets taking participants through a decision-making sequence on knives.

The 57-year-old describes this activity as being generally very well-received, creating a safe environment for pupils to explore the various outcomes of the gameplay.

Education

Outside of his educational duties, Andy also oversees the use of knife search poles at his partner schools, where pupils will be screened for the possession of weaponry through both walk-through and handheld metal detectors.

Changes in policy to protect both officers and young people mean teachers and school staff must now directly action the pole searches, although police are still able to be present.

“There is a much bigger responsibility for schools now in this respect, but everyone I work with has really stepped up,” added Andy, who is also temporarily covering three sixth-form colleges as a SIPO.

“Having proper partnerships like this is so important to us as a force, because that is what gives us the platform to be an effective and visible presence to the young people we serve.

“Essentially, we want our work to be diversionary – the better we can educate them now, the less work there is for police and criminal justice system to do later down the line.”

Crime prevention

While Andy points out the impact of his SIPO work on crime prevention is not always straightforward to measure, he says the positive feedback he has received from schools is reflected in the productive conversations he often enjoys with pupils.

Many of his assemblies have been concluded with a Q & A session, where he will be open and honest with audiences when drawing on his own experience of some of the ‘gruesome’ knife crime incidents he has witnessed in his career – something he says is generally appreciated and handled maturely.

Even a handful of more challenging interactions with pupils have proved useful in their own way, providing Andy with some learnings of his own.

“What I have realised is that a joker in the pack can often be treating the topic insensitively because they are uncomfortable about it in some way, and I can then address that with them individually,” Andy explained.

Rejuvenated

“For everything I hope I am helping my schools to discover, the fact I am discovering things myself goes to show how much this role has rejuvenated me in the Force.

“After 20 years of going straight from job to job on response, I think it was the right time for me to see what difference I could make over the longer term. 

“And I feel like I am doing exactly that, which is really pleasing, because it’s nothing less than what our young people deserve,” he ended.

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