Police report drop in knife crime as fight against weapon violence remains priority
Fears remain from the public over knife violence
Police have reported a drop in knife crime despite an increase in arrests from stop searches as weapon crime remains a “priority” for city officers.
Despite encouraging statistics, the spectre of knife crime once again reared its head after the latest violent episode to hit the city when a 19-year-old from Birmingham was beaten over the head with a baseball bat and stabbed - leaving him left with injuries to his head and hand.
The incident, believed to be in a secluded car park by Cliffdale Gardens off London Road beneath Portsdown Hill on Thursday July 30 at about 8pm led to six males from Birmingham, Croydon and Wolverhampton being arrested.
One of those has been given a conditional caution for possession of an offensive weapon while two of the males, released on bail, remain under investigation. The other three have been released by police.
The teenager survived the attack but was left with “serious but not life threatening” injuries according to Hampshire police. But it was the sort of incident that has become almost normalised such is the regularity of such attacks.
Locals said they are more cautious these days, with violence involving weapons “just what happens today”. A knifing in Hawthorn Crescent near Cosham train station in March serves to illustrate the point.
Residents living in Cliffdale Gardens were suddenly thrown into a terrifying crime scene with armed police patrolling the area and issuing warnings to people. “It was a big deal, we were told to go indoors and lock our doors and not come out,” Julie Francis said.
“We were put in lockdown for three hours. It was quite scary. There’s a lot of elderly who live here and one lady said she did not feel safe. There were lots of armed police walking around the (mobile home park) and searching on the other side of (London Road).”
The 73-year-old added: “The man was found on London Road and someone driving past saw him staggering and stopped to help him. Whether the attack happened in the car park or on the field I’m not sure.
“These sort of attacks are a worry but unfortunately it’s part of life today. You see it on the news all the time.”
Such incidents naturally create terror for those involved or impacted, but police have reported progress with reducing knife crime which continues to be a priority.
In the period of August 2025 – August 2026, knife enabled crime where blades are used in other offending is down 14%. Possession of bladed articles offences are also down 5.8%.
Police in Portsmouth reported “good results” with knife offences in this period including an incident on 4 March when officers from the Priority Crime Team were conducting patrols in the Southsea area and conducted a proactive stop and search of three young men on Warwick Crescent.
“Two of the individuals became aggressive and tried to resist police, but knives were found on both and they were subsequently arrested,” a police spokesperson said.
Ryan Scott, 19, of Grosvenor Street in Southsea pleaded guilty to possessing a knife blade / sharp pointed article in a public place and assault by beating. He is due to appear at Portsmouth Crown Court on Friday 21 August for sentencing.
A 17-year-old boy from Portsmouth pleaded guilty to possessing a knife blade / sharp pointed article in a public place and received a Youth Requirement Order.
Another recent result from an incident on Friday 31 July resulted in a man admitting a knife offence after he was reported to have threatened people with the weapon at The Golden Hind pub on Copnor Road.
Cameron Patrick, 32, of no fixed address in Portsmouth was arrested, charged and pleaded guilty to possessing a knife blade / sharp pointed article in a public place. He is due to appear at Portsmouth Magistrates Court on 27 November for sentencing.
Portsmouth Chief Inspector Sam Warne said: “Targeting habitual knife carriers and knife enabled crime remains a district priority in Portsmouth.
“In the past 12 months, we have conducted 436 proactive stop searches checking for weapons, which has resulted in a 10% increase in arrests from stop and search alone from the previous year.
“We utilise a partnership approach to managing the most prolific knife carriers, and work with other agencies to ensure that offenders are not only brought to justice, but that they also undertake diversionary measures to prevent re-offending.
“We hold monthly Tactical Planning meetings to ensure our response is regularly reviewed and remains performance driven.
“This approach enables us to continue tackling knife crime robustly by implementing necessary changes to our tactics when required and focusing our resources on areas which need them most.”
The latest figures from the Office of National Statistics show there were 940 knife offences in Hampshire in 2025 - the lowest level of police-recorded knife offences in the county since 2015.
Police and Crime Commissioner Donna Jones recently announced over £611,000 will be spent on tackling knife crime in Portsmouth and Southampton - with her conceding the two cities “still have a high number of incidents”.
Ms Jones said: “Hampshire & Isle of Wight Constabulary is one of the best performing forces in the country when it comes to tackling knife crime. While other forces are seeing significant increases in incidents, here they have reduced by 27.3% since 2023. But there’s always more to be done.”
It comes as the Home Office has reported that knife-related homicides across the UK have dropped by 26% under the current government, reaching their lowest level in 35 years.
This major progress, which is part of an 11% overall drop in national knife crime since 2024, has been welcomed by Portsmouth South Stephen Morgan MP, who has been taking action to reduce knife crime and making our city’s streets safer.
Action to date by the government includes banning zombie-style knives and machetes, setting a commitment to halve knife crime by 2035, allocating an additional 65 neighbourhood police officers to the local police force and introducing targeted support for schools in high-risk areas to prevent young people from being drawn into violence.
Establishing the Safety In & Around Schools Partnership to improve safety on journeys to and from school has also come in alongside an increase in funding for the local police force by £20.5m for 2025/26.
The rolling out new mapping technology allows police to pinpoint exactly where and when knife crime is most likely to occur, while targeting usage of knife arches, CCTV and Live Facial Recognition has helped to deter offending and catch criminals.
These actions, alongside other measures, have already resulted in a 13.4% reduction in knife crime across Portsmouth between January 2025 and January 2026.
Additionally, it is reported that within the same timeframe Portsmouth has seen a 14.6% reduction in most serious violence.
Mr Morgan said: “In July 2025, the Home Office also launched a dedicated surrender scheme, which has seen knives and weapons handed in at a mobile surrender van operated by FazAmnesty. Blades like those surrendered have been used in violent crimes and caused devastation to communities across the country.”
SUPPORT
If you are worried or concerned about knife crime, support is available through the charity The Ben Kinsella Trust and you can also speak to police by calling 101 and asking for the local Neighbourhood Team. In an emergency, always call 999.
If there are areas where you live or spend time that don’t feel safe you can report this anonymously via StreetSafe. The information is given to your local police force who can then look at what they can do to improve safety in that area.
Anonymous reporting is available through Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.