The Government has today laid the legislation before Parliament that will pave the way for the launch of the pilot scheme of Knife Crime Prevention Orders (KCPOs). KCPOs were introduced through the Offensive Weapons Act 2019 that received Royal Assent in May 2019, and will give officers an additional tool to steer those most at risk away from violent crime.
The civil orders can be imposed by courts on any person aged 12 or over who police believe to be regularly carrying a knife, or upon conviction of a knife related offence. The orders are intended to be preventative rather than punitive to help people change their behaviour and avoid being drawn into knife crime. Courts will be able to stop those under an order from associating with certain people, introduce geographical restrictions and set curfews.
Other requirements set under the orders can include attendance at educational courses, life skills programmes, anger management classes or drug rehabilitation. The pilot will run for 14 months from 6 April, with the intention to introduce the orders across all police forces, pending assessment after the pilot.
This is a great step in both keeping the public safe and steering the most at risk and vulnerable children away from violent crime.
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