Ipswich councillor calls for new knife crime strategy

Councillor Sam Murray is set to bring up a question during Ipswich Borough Council's full council meeting tonight.

She, and fellow councillor Ian Fisher, wants to see a strategy that is specific to the town and says one concern that knife crime in town is discouraging people from coming to the town centre.

Portfolio holder for housing Cllr Alasdair Ross believes the existing framework that sees a Suffolk-wide approach to tackle county lines will help reduce knife crimes. 

Cllr Sam Murray will bring up this issue during a meeting on Wednesday evening. (Image: Newsquest)  Cllr Murray disagrees with this and calls for teams to collect data, and address the issue through communication with students and helping philanthropists like Paul Stansby and Jamie Hart add bleed kits to the neighbourhood.

"I think a lot of people feel unsafe to come into the town and talk down the town," she added.

"I do not believe this is going to be the case forever, but knife crime is a huge contributing factor to why our town isn't thriving."

The councillor compared knife crime in the UK to gun issues in America. (Image: PA)Cllr Murray compared the issue to people carrying guns in the USA, as many carry the weapons for their safety, and believes that more can be done. 

She added that her stance is not political and that she is bringing it up now because of the recent project launched by PM Keir Starmer and Idris Elba to tackle knife crime.

Cllr Murray said that she is bringing this issue up now due to the recent project launch by Idris Elba and Keir Starmer. (Image: Ian Vogler/Daily Mirror/PA) However, Cllr Ross believes that the current strategy made in association with Suffolk County Council, the Police and Crime Commissioner and Suffolk Constabulary addresses the issues raised by Cllr Murray. 

He said that the strategy looks at county lines and gangs, which are believed to be the root cause of knife crimes. 

Cllr Ross believes the current strategy does address Cllr Murray's concerns. (Image: Newsquest) "I can understand Cllr Murray's concerns about knife crimes and it's a concern that we share," Cllr Ross said.

"But if you defeat county lines you are going to take an awful lot of knives and people carrying those knives off the streets."

He added that the current strategy has also worked in association with local authorities and police in London and Essex and has reduced county lines.