£650,000 to be spent on CCTV and other measures to tackle knife crime

A raft of measures to tackle knife crime has been agreed overwhelmingly by Bristol councillors.

More than £650,000 will be spent installing and improving CCTV on local authority land over the next two years, a serious violence strategy covering the city and wider region will be developed and “blind spots” for attacks will be designed out of future planning developments.

The motion was tabled at a meeting of full council on Tuesday by Mohamed Makawi, Green councillor for Cotham, whose friend Adam Ali Ibrahim was fatally stabbed in Castle Park on January 31.

Mohamed Makawi is a Green Party councillor for Cotham – photo: Green Party

Labour made several changes to the proposals which the Greens initially opposed before the chamber voted in favour with just one Green member against.

Speaking afterwards, Makawi said: “I am delighted my motion passed tonight. The council has sent a clear message that Bristol can, and will, do more to tackle knife crime and, most importantly, its causes.

“By taking simple steps like providing emergency bleed kits and training to nighttime venues, fixing ‘blind spots’ and providing more lighting and CCTV in hotspots, we can save lives.”

But Makawi said he was disappointed by Labour’s amendment, saying “it removed some important parts of the motion, like references to the council’s drugs strategy, addressing the stigma of neurodiversity and crucially a commitment to improve lighting in known dark areas”.

……………………………..

Read more: ‘Knife crime is not the disease but a serious symptom’

……………………………..

Labour councillors said their alterations “strengthened” the motion and removed a requirement to “identify licenced premises which fuel anti-social behaviours at the root of knife carrying and review the licence compliance”.

They said this implied a link between the nighttime economy and knife crime, which was an “unproven and harmful assumption”, and replaced it with a commitment to work with the Bristol Nights Board on preventative measures rather than penalising pubs, bars and clubs.

Labour cabinet member for public health and communities, Ellie King, said: “While taking on board the goodwill of this motion, there were several reasons why we felt it needed considerable changes to reflect the sheer depth and breadth of both the challenges we face, of the partnership work already happening across the city and to bring in additional points to strengthen it.

“Owing to the Labour amendment, the council will now undertake a serious violence strategic needs assessment for both Bristol and the wider Avon & Somerset area.

“This will enable us to be evidence-led when defining our serious violence interventions for Bristol.”

Ronaldo Griffiths, 19, of Osprey Road in Redfield, is due to go on trial in Bristol Crown Court in July for the alleged murder of 36-year-old Adam Ali Ibrahim, which he denies.

Main photo: Martin Booth

Read next:

• Man in his 30s dies after city centre stabbing
• Police search for weapons in city centre
• Young people use power of film to tackle knife crime

Listen to the latest Bristol24/7 Behind the Headlines podcast: