Bristol, UK, June 6, 2009 – More investment is needed in poor areas like St Paul's and Easton to prevent a growth in youth knife crime, it has been claimed.
The Home Affairs Committee has released its findings after a year-long investigation into knife crime across the country, which included holding one of its meetings in Bristol.
The Government think tank reported Bristol's knife crime problem was "more complicated" than other cities because young gangs form both on territorial grounds and racial lines.
Avon and Somerset force Inspector Graham Fox said one of the issues with street violence in Bristol concerned the Somali community.
But poverty and insecurity among young people also played a significant role, the report stated.
MPs found the proportion of young people nationally who actually used knives was very small, but concluded a recent increase seemed to be down to escalating street violence between groups of young people in poorer areas of large cities.
The Somali community in Easton, one of Bristol's poorest areas, is concerned with street-level violence involving young people.
A meeting about knife crime held in Easton last October attracted more than 400 people.
Editor of the Somali Voice newspaper Kayse Maxamed, 38, said: "People came from the Somali community, parents and police. There is a growing concern about knife crime, we didn't realise how many people would come.
"We've had some murders in the last few years, one involving a Somali on Somali and another a young girl who is now in prison. But other incidents are not reported.
"There is a lack of awareness. Some people don't understand the consequences of carrying a knife in public. Others think they can carry a knife to defend themselves. There should be severe punishment. It should not be tolerated.
"I think this effects everyone, not just Somali and Afro-Caribbean people.
"There are other areas in Bristol with knife crime but it is not as high as Easton and St Paul's, the main reason is a lack of resources.
"If you go down Stapleton Road you see people hanging about, there's no sporting facilities, it's a very poor area."
The Bristol session on knife crime was held at the Trinity Centre in Easton in March this year, and threw up a diversity of opinion on the issue.
Superintendent Keith Perkin, of Devon and Cornwall Police, argued gangs and weapons are not linked to race but to youth culture.
A number of young people, including representatives from the Somali community, said there were sometimes conflicts between ethnic groups because Bristol was facing the biggest demographic changes in the country and problems related to social cohesion.
Dr Nikki McKenzie, of the University of the West of England, was concerned that organisations were working reactively rather than proactively.
Her organization, Fairbridge, encourages young people to identify for themselves what is holding them back and to develop resilience to deal with conflict.
Although not referred to in the Home Affairs Committee report, the majority of high-profile murder cases in Bristol where someone has been stabbed to death in the past year have involved white-on-white violence. Alan Riddock, 41, was murdered by members of the Churchley family in Bedminster last May and John Derrick, 43, was killed by Bradley Payne in Withywood last July.
Publishing the findings, chairman Keith Vaz said: "We are seeing a spiralling of the arms race as far as knife crime is concerned. Young people carry knives because they fear that others are carrying knives. This spiralling of knife possession puts all young people at risk. Too many tragic deaths have occurred because of this.
"We have to stop this arms race."
Source: Evening Post. Bristol. UK
 

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