Police chief addresses recent rise in knife crime in Hastings

Jo Shiner acknowledged the force has seen an increase in this type of crime – including stabbings in Hastings and St Leonards, and other people being arrested for possession of knives – over the past couple of weeks, but stressed these incidents have been between parties known to one another.

She said police have seen ‘very few’ incidents where people have been injured with a knife by someone who is not known to them.

She added: “These recent offences in Hastings have been between parties known to each other. In most incidents of this nature, whereby a person is injured, most injuries are caused by someone known to them. Often, the motive is not always a surprise to them.

“We are seeing very few incidents where someone is injured with a knife by someone unknown to them.”

In recent weeks, there was a stabbing on St Leonards seafront and a separate stabbing in Hastings town centre later the same day, as well as a number of incidents which have seen people being arrested for carrying knives in public.

When asked, Observer readers said one of the main issues they are concerned about is the increasing number of incidents involving knives in Hastings, St Leonards and Bexhill.

On Wednesday, Chief Constable Shiner said her front line officers are ‘dedicated’ to getting knives off the street. She said they are trying to do this by educating people about the risks of carrying a knife, as well as through Operation Sceptre which Sussex Police has launched to tackle knife crime.

Through that, officers – in connection with partners at British Transport Police, nightclubs, bars, education providers and youth services – are carrying out a range of activities, including stop and search, test purchasing operations and providing knife amnesty bins in towns across Sussex, including in Hastings, Bexhill, Battle and Rye.

Chief Constable Shiner said some recent incidents of knife crime across Sussex have also been linked to county lines drug dealing, which is responsible for a large percentage of the violent crime committed in towns across Sussex.

In the past few months, she said Sussex Police have ‘taken out’ five county line drug groups operating in and around Sussex.

She said statistics show knife crime is down nine per cent year on year across Sussex , but did acknowledge that the Covid-19 pandemic, and particularly the first lockdown in the spring, have impacted crime figures in 2020.

Chief Constable Shiner made these comments during a general update on policing in Sussex during the pandemic.

The health crisis, and the varying degrees of lockdown it has created, have posed additional challenges for police forces across England, who have been tasked with enforcing new sets of regulations.

Chief Constable Shiner thanked the ‘vast majority’ of Sussex residents who have followed the new rules, despite the ‘significant impact’ the Covid-19 pandemic has had on their lives.

“Not everybody has understood the rules,” she said, “and sometimes they just forget what the rules are. Sometimes it has just taken one of our officers reminding them of the rules to help the situation. We don’t want to be penalising people for making genuine mistakes.”

However, she said police are still seeing people breaching the rules and have been left with no choice but to take enforcement. This includes fining the organiser of a Halloween party in Brighton £10,000, as well as the organiser of a protest.

She said Sussex Police, as well as other forces across England, are still seeing a ‘worrying increase’ in attacks on front line officers.

But she praised these officers who have been showing up for work ‘to help protect their communities’ during the crisis: “Sometimes I think it’s easy to see the uniform and forget that there is a person behind it, but these officers are going out on the front line and then back to their families.

“We have seen a reduction in staff absences and some officers have even moved away from home if they live with someone who is vulnerable just so they can continue the job and protect people by coming to work.

“It has been challenging and there have been changes. They are wearing masks in the cars and sometimes having them on for 14 hour shifts while communicating on the radio but people have reacted positively and thanked our officers for their work.”

Chief Constable Shiner said one of her priorities remains building up communication between the police and the public: “We want people to feel like they can walk up to an officer or PCSO and just talk to them, whether they’re giving us information or not. Building up that communication with the public is really important to me. That perception that people feel safe again is really important.”