The Moor: This is what police are doing to tackle knife crime following another stabbing on Sheffield's streets

A section of The Moor was cordoned off for several hours on Sunday, June 11, following an incident in the early hours of the morning, in which a 31-year-old man suffered stab wounds. Armed police were called to the scene at around 12.45am that day in response, a South Yorkshire Police spokesperson said.

The incident marks the 23rd stabbing The Star has reported on over the last year. Star readers have also identified knife crime as one of their key concerns when it comes to crime in Sheffield.

We spoke to Superintendent Benn Kemp to ask him what the force is doing to tackle knife crime, and if he could offer any insight into why we see so many incidents arising from the use of a blade on the city’s streets.

Supt Kemp said: “Knife crime and serious violence remains a priority of South Yorkshire Police and we are really committed to tackling this. We are one of the one of the first regions, or were one of the first regions, with a serious violence unit that was established and we we have a lot of initiatives that are ongoing without partners with education establishments and with other organisations to really address this. It's not just a police issue.

“This is a sadly a societal issue, and it's been replicated across the UK and we are really committed to playing an important part and tackling that as a police [force], but we recognise we're not the only solution to this to this challenge. Last month we took part in Operation Sceptre. This was a national week of action to tackle knife crime, that led to 57 arrests 22 directly related to knife crime incidents and included suspected offences such as possession of a bladed article and so within that activity we actually recovered 55 knives removed from the streets.

"We've got eight knife bins in place across Sheffield, and that provides a way in which people can anonymously dispose of weapons so that they're not used on the streets. They're in partnership with other organisations. We conduct regular weapons sweeps or locations, where and you know specific incidents of knife crime may have been occurred in the past or where organised crime is believed to take place.

“We will come back to do weapon sweeps, looking for any hidden weapons, and we'll obviously target the use of warrants and stop search to really identify those people who are seeking to purchase, possess or use knives and for their offending.”

“We also have attended over 42 schools delivering over inputs to over 3,400 pupils across South Yorkshire and explaining to them the dangers, and helping them to stay safe. We attended 62 community events and meetings. We also target retailers who may be selling knives to young people. We've delivered 51 test purchase operations and where premises fails that test purpose operation where a young person is able to purchase knives. We work closely with them to ensure that they are compliant and staff are appropriately trained. But our activity doesn't stop here. This will remain an ongoing priority for us and we do targeted hot-spot policing within areas of where we were violence as occurred in the past and it really will remain and a key priority for us as an organisation.”

When asked whether he could offer any insight into the reasons behind the knife crime being perpetrated in Sheffield, Supt Kemp continued: “We do know that organised crime and organized crime groups do use violence to protect their organised crime interests or to enforce debts and other things; and that no doubt plays a factor.

"The media and the perception of other people carrying a knife, as many studies that have shown that exposure to knives and young people being shown images of knives or media reporting on knife crime can lead to an increased perception that everyone else has a knife, therefore I need to carry a knife to arm myself.

"My message to anyone who is carrying a knife or or is considering carrying a knife to protect themselves is very clearly don't. Carrying a knife increases the risk of yourself coming to harm as a result of knife crime. If anyone's in fear of anything then please do speak to an appropriate guardian, adult, a contact through school, a friend, a family member or an associate and there is helping support available.”