International award for Leeds anti-knife and gun campaign

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International award for Leeds anti-knife and gun campaign

Oct 21, 2008

By Bruce Smith

A PIONEERING Leeds project to deter young people from gun and knife crime has scooped an international award.

The city's crime reduction partnership Safer Leeds will receive the award for its Leeds Weapons Awareness Programme from the International Society of Crime Prevention Practitioners (ISCPP) at their Colorado symposium later this month.

Launched in 2004, the Leeds Weapons Awareness Programme was adopted by all Leeds secondary schools and the Leeds Youth Offending Service.
More than 4,000 'students' have been through the scheme.

The programme teaches young people about the risks and consequences of using weapons and focuses on the law surrounding knives and weapons.

It highlights the injuries such weapons cause by using graphic images attached to case studies.

Safer Leeds is the first UK crime and disorder reduction partnership to win the award in the face of competition from throughout the world, particularly the USA.

The ISCPP was formed in 1977 and is a forum for crime prevention specialists throughout the world to share good practice in reducing crime.

Coun Les Carter, chairman of Safer Leeds, said:"I am thrilled at this international recognition for the work Leeds has undertaken to tackle the scourge of knife and gun crime.

"Leeds does not have the same culture of weapons use by young people that some other large cities do, and initiatives like this play an important part in keeping it that way.


"We have a long-standing commitment to work with all children to educate them about the law and their responsibilities around weapons.

"This means that no young person in Leeds can carry a knife in ignorance, and has certainly contributed to the low level of offending, though we certainly aren't complacent, " added Coun Carter.

In 2007, the programme was taken over by the Royal Armouries Museum, and incorporated into their national 'No to Knives' campaign.

Peter Armstrong, development director of the museum, said: "Royal Armouries is committed to help tackle the issue of conflict in our community and as a museum principally displaying weapons it would be irresponsible of us not to help reduce the levels of knife in our city.

"This award is a real vindication that by working in partnership with agencies across the city we can all make a difference."

Jim Hopkinson, head of the Leeds Youth Offending Service, added: "The Leeds weapons awareness programme is uniquely about prevention – stopping young people from carrying weapons in the first place.

"I have spoken to many young people who tell me that attending this programme has made them realise that weapons are not glamorous and that they now understand that there are severe personal and legal consequences."

l Safer Leeds is the Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnership (CDRP) dedicated to tacking drugs and crime in the city. It is a partnership organisation between a number of local agencies including Leeds City Council, West Yorkshire Police, Leeds PCT, West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue and West Yorkshire Police Authority.

Source: Yorkshire Evening Post

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