Knife Crime

9 and support for grassroots violence prevention programmes. • Mandate independent evaluation of the Bill's effectiveness using community safety indicators beyond simple crime statistics, including measures of community trust and youth wellbeing. • Create statutory review periods to assess both intended and unintended consequences of the legislation, with particular focus on impacts on children and minoritised communities. Legislative Amendments: • Include statutory presumptions against custodial sentences for children found in possession of knives, prioritising therapeutic and educational interventions. • Establish clear criteria for "reasonable grounds to suspect" that include consideration of context, age, and circumstances to prevent arbitrary application of powers. • Introduce mandatory impact assessments for any future increases in knife-related penalties, requiring evidence of effectiveness and proportionality. • Avoid increasing penalties for children and young people, given the strong evidence that more punitive responses are associated with poor long-term outcomes and higher reoffending rates. These recommendations would transform the Crime and Policing Bill from a primarily punitive response into a comprehensive, research-based approach to knife crime reduction that respects fundamental rights whilst addressing the underlying causes and drivers of violence affecting young people.