By Emma McGladdery
Gun, knife and gang crime in Kirklees has seen a drastic decrease over the last year – according to a new report by the West Yorkshire Police.
It’s been no secret that West Yorkshire could be considered an epicentre for crime. Unfortunately, as of 2019, West Yorkshire holds the title for the highest crime rates out of the 55 counties across England and Wales.
However, things have been looking up for Kirklees recently. West Yorkshire Police have recently revealed that gun, knife and gang crime in Kirklees has lowered in recent months, and has had a drastic decrease since this time last year.
They stated that “knife crime was reduced by 27 per cent, leading to 145 fewer victims of this very serious and often life-threatening offending”.
Possession of weapons has also gone down by seven per cent in recent months.
This positive news is at least partly thanks to ‘Operation Jemlock’, a group of West Yorkshire police officers specialising in knife crime and serious violence in the West Yorkshire area.
By 21 July 2020, Operation Jemlock had carried out more than 3,000 arrests in the West Yorkshire area, in an attempt to lower weapon possession.
For the most part, Operation Jemlock has proven to be successful in Huddersfield.
The area’s current stats for weapon possession are also exceptionally low. With stats provided from the website UkCrimeStats.com, we can see an overview of weapon possession crime vs violent crime in the last year.
These stats have told us:
- Violent Crime reports (August 2019) – 460 incidents.
- Possession of weapon reports (August 2019) – 8 incidents.
- Violent Crime reports (July 2020) – 503 incidents.
- Possession of weapon reports (July 2020) – 5 incidents.
From this, it’s clear to see that in Huddersfield, last year’s weapon possession reports were low, but this year they have lowered even more, in fact it’s a 37.5% decrease.
For Operation Jemlock and Huddersfield residents; July 2020’s report leaves weapon possession at its lowest point in 12 months.
Now, unfortunately, there has been an increase of 43 violent crime incidents since this time last year. It shows that there is still plenty of work to be done in Kirklees and West Yorkshire.
Overall, looking at the big picture, it is good to see weapon possession crime falling and continuing to do so. It’s a relief for the residents, and something small to celebrate.