Hunt for zombie knives in a city affected by violence

Bristol has been rocked by a rise in knife crime, which has claimed the lives of many teenagers and sent many more to prison. The BBC joins a team trying to protect young people by taking weapons off the streets.

“It’s a car, a gray one,” said the undercover officer, pointing to a collapsed Chair speeding down one of Bristol’s terraced roads.

Pursued by sirens and blue lights, the young driver makes a critical mistake – turning into a dead end. There was a panicked turn, a parked car was hit.

The officer got out of his patrol car and drew his baton. The mid-morning peace was shattered by car windows being smashed and orders being shouted.

“Stay where you are! Put your hands where we can see!”

“Weapon found,” shouted one of the officers, holding up a curved zombie knife with a bright blue edge – and that’s not all.

PC Christina Jones was holding a machete, found under a chair.

“No one goes out with balaclavas and zombie knives with good intentions,” he said. “There is a possibility that some conflict will arise from this.”

Inside the car were four young men aged between 16 and 18, and in the middle seat was a 17-year-old girl. They were all handcuffed – quivering with adrenaline and shaking broken glass from their hoodies.

This is Operation Hardy – an initiative created to disrupt the wave of youth violence across the city.

“So young” read the Bristol Post’s front page headline alongside the beaming faces of Mason Rist, 15 and Max Dixon, 16, who were stabbed to death in late January.

Less than three weeks later, Darrian Williams bled to death outside the store. The 16-year-old was stabbed in the back in the park and ran into the street to get help.

“Bristol and the surrounding area is in the middle of the plague of knife crime,” declared Mr. Justice Saini in the city’s Crown Court, as he arrested three 16-year-olds found guilty of killing Mikey Roynon.

He was stabbed in the neck at a house party last summer – another life lost at the age of 16.

“We have a lot of teenagers carrying knives – in their minds, they think someone else is carrying them,” said PC Jones. “Anything can happen – it can be the first decision to use that knife with fatal consequences, and we’ve seen it many times this year, where people have died.”

Another has been seriously injured – a 16-year-old who barely survived a stabbing at a downtown McDonald’s.

Many of the people suspected, charged, or convicted of these crimes are the same age.

“It got a bit out of control,” PC Jones said. “We’re talking about disembowelment, life-changing injuries, amputations, significant brain injuries.”

Police weren’t the only ones responding. At City Hall, there are monthly meetings that combine education, health, community work, council services and law enforcement.

In that room were teachers who lost students, social workers who supported bereaved and devastated families, and paramedics who injured children or had to pronounce them dead.

Giles Haythornthwaite, a trauma doctor from Bristol Royal Hospital for Children, is clear about the level of threat they face.

“There is concern that this will start to happen in a big way among gangs,” he said. “There is no complacency – because it could happen tonight. We know that we still have that risk, but we want to push prevention so that we don’t reach a crisis.

For City Council leader Tony Dyer, the responsibility is shared.

“No single organization can solve these problems,” he said. “If we want to protect young people, then we can all work together and produce a collaborative effort.”

This is a new effort on a larger scale – sharing insights, intelligence and advice to spot the signs of young people jumping into violence. He spoke of vulnerable young people being “treated” into crime in the same way that young people are sexually exploited.

That’s something Julia Grey, principal at City of Bristol College, is wary of.

“It may look glamorous and it may look glamorous, but living in the criminal world is a horrible life,” he said, “so we need to give young people the option to live legally.”

Operation Hardy was a sensitive initiative, balancing the concerns of citizens who had witnessed the bloodshed against complaints of disproportionate police action. There is pushback – plans to install a temporary metal-detecting knife arch in the city center have been repeatedly delayed.

Some businesses didn’t like the image, some communities felt it wasn’t targeted. Stop and search has long been controversial, and police are wary of accusations of discrimination and heavy-handed tactics.

Officers are discouraged from referring to “gangs” when describing violent groups because of concerns that they are predominantly from black or ethnic minority backgrounds. The reality of Bristol youth violence is multi-ethnic.

Avon and Somerset Police are clear that the growing problem is among young people aged 14 to 19, but some boys are taking up weapons at a younger age.

“There are six or seven-year-olds carrying knives,” says Zac Dugdale, a youth worker handing out bike helmets to a group of lads taking to the BMX track.

“I think fear is the main factor in why they carry knives. When you think of a seven- or eight-year-old, you think of young innocence, and now we’re seeing young people lose that innocence at a young age.

Zac’s organisation, Hartcliffe and Withywood Community Partnership, also runs “Talkback and Sides”, offering free haircuts with honest chats.

“I just don’t feel safe out there,” said the nine-year-old in the barber’s chair. “I feel safer inside the house, not outside. Here, I can have fun without worrying about something bad happening.

Even the seasoned officers looked scared.

“These last few months I have seen more stabbings and murders than I have ever known,” said PC Jones. “I have children that age, so I’m concerned about that generation.”

They searched for a 10-year-old boy – reportedly at knifepoint – exposing himself to women and committing indecent assaults. He was eventually arrested and has since been released, pending an investigation.

And another fine balance here – involvement or enforcement, intervention or incarceration? The goal is to avoid criminals under the age of 18 if possible.

“Putting children in prison is not the answer,” said Detective Chief Inspector Larisa Hunt, who leads Avon and Somerset Police’s early intervention team. “That’s not the solution because he’s going to get out of prison, so what?”

BBC News was given access to weekly monitoring meetings of young people at greatest risk of violence, as perpetrators or victims – and often the same people at risk.

Updates are shared, events happen, movements are tracked, and action plans are agreed upon. He discussed a pair of teenagers who stole a car at night after threatening the occupants with a machete and a gun.

There is an urgency to understand how they are connected – for the victims, for each other and for the rest of the faces on the wall that are young to worry. One of the familiar names and will be shared with the council’s youth team.

Other young people have been threatened and branded over alleged debts. He wouldn’t say who, but the team still has to consider ways to stop a revenge attack that could quickly escalate.

These are officers who understand the lives of young people and their families – this is a job somewhere between supervision and social work, but trust is fragile.

One boy has stopped replying to messages. He is known to stay with relatives outside the area, but there are fears that he will return and return to criminal associations and violent confrontations. Officers were assigned to speak with the mother and agree a plan with the social worker.

Each case is discussed in detail with care, understanding and concern. Minors on the watch list are considered vulnerable children, likely to be exploited by older criminals and forced to use drugs or carry weapons.

In the cul-de-sac where the car torch ended, the five children didn’t have much to say. I asked the bearded, heavy 16-year-old why he was carrying a dangerous weapon on the street of his house on Wednesday morning.

“I don’t know,” she said, gruffly. “So I’m not weird out, maybe?” He said he had no intention of harming anyone: “I’m a knife, innit? I like the way it looks.”

He was arrested for having a knife – as was an 18-year-old driver who was also accused of driving without a license or insurance, and failing to stop. Both are awaiting a decision on charges. Three from the back seat were released.

PC Christina Jones explained that it would be difficult to prove ownership of the zombie machete and knife found under the car seat, if all denied the offence.

• If you feel you are in danger or are worried that a friend is caught up in violence, you can call Childline on 0800 1111
• If you feel you have an emergency, call the police immediately on 999

It’s hard to reconcile the brutal nature of weapons and the horrific injuries they can inflict with gawky young men moving nervously on the sidewalk.

Getting rid of the balaclava has taken the scary edge off. This is not a hardened gangster. He tried to be cocky in front of the officer, but he wasn’t sure.

They are children, wide-eyed and worried. But they are still armed and can do something very dangerous.

“Some of the things they did to each other were appalling,” PC Jones said. “They don’t seem to have the same value as human life. They may have value on their own, or value for each other.

“I think we have a lot to do. We are successful, but we need to do more, and not just the police.

Additional reporting by Alex Littlewood