CRIME PREVENTION
MERSEYSIDE LEADS IN TACKLING KNIFE CRIME
Serious Violence Reduction Orders are being piloted by Merseyside Police. Superintendent Phil Mullally, serious violence and knife crime lead at Merseyside Police, told Stavan Desai about the two-year project
The pilot of Serious Violence Reduction Orders (SVROs) was launched on 19 April under the Police, Crime and Sentencing and Courts Act. The new powers will allow officers to stop and search a person subject to an order to look for, and seize, knives or offensive weapons. Merseyside Police is one of the four forces in England to trial SVROs to tackle knife crime and violent offending, alongside Thames Valley, Sussex, and West Midlands. An SVRO is a civil order placed on an offender aged 18 years or over who is convicted of an offence involving a bladed article or offensive weapon. We can put forward SVRO applications, which will then be considered and granted by the court. We welcome the opportunity to trial these new post-conviction powers to target high risk offenders. SVROs will help officers take a more assertive, proactive approach in tackling weapon-carrying and criminal behaviour. If an offender believes they’re more
likely to be searched because of having an SVRO, there is less chance they will carry a weapon. This reduces the overall risk of harm to communities, prevents crime, and reduces demand on all services, not just policing. Knife crime has devastating consequences on victims, their families, and wider communities. Nationally, over the past several years, recorded knife crime has risen. In Merseyside, January 2023 saw the lowest level of knife crime since April 2020, and the lowest level of overall serious violence since February 2021. Serious violence and knife crime are falling in Merseyside, but we know there is still a lot of work to do. These new powers will enable us to continue to drive down knife crime and reoffending by proactively targeting known offenders. In Merseyside, we have rolled out SVROs across the whole of the force’s jurisdiction. We believe this offers the best opportunity
26 | POLICE | APRIL 2023
Superintendent Phil Mullally
to address knife crime offences and gain real-time insights on their impact to shape the testing and development of the legislation moving forward.
Our involvement in the pilot coincides with a range of activities already underway to tackle knife crime in Merseyside. Operation Target is our force-wide operation to tackle serious and violent crime and put the people responsible for committing it behind bars.
Our hard work remains ongoing, and we are seeing positive results daily. Since the start of 2019, and up to January 2023, more than 10,000 weapons have been
seized and more than 3,000 arrests have been made for serious violence offences. SVROs are a significant extension of police powers and will have an impact on internal processes and systems. Internally, a large proportion of our work has focused on training and engagement, updating information and communication technologies, data systems (such as a new marker on the PNC and changes to Niche), and consulting with legal teams and the Crown Prosecution Service. We have delivered a training package
to thousands of officers and staff so every opportunity is taken to apply for an SVRO
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