Knife crime in Nottinghamshire has risen by almost a third in 12 months – meaning police are dealing with around two incidents every single day.
There were 757 reports involving a knife in the year to the end of March 2017, Government figures show.
The figure has risen 31 per cent compared to the year before and includes a number of murders which have shocked communities and campaigners.
All crime overall has risen by 12 per cent in Notts, the same set of statistics show.
Marcellus Baz, a campaigner who runs schemes across the city to turn young people away from crime, said the figures showed Nottingham now had a “massive problem” with people both carrying knives and being prepared to use them.
“The reasons are the cuts to policing,” he said.
“We see less police officers on the streets, councils are taking support mechanisms off the streets because they are facing cuts and there are cuts to voluntary organisations like ourselves.
“A lot of people probably won’t be optimistic, but I’ve got to be optimistic to do my job.
“There’s got to be a collaborative approach, we’ve got to work to our strengths and admit we have a problem.”
He added police, schools, councils and community groups needed to better collaborate to convince people to not routinely carry knives. Campaigners have repeatedly warned how some young people involved in violent feuds in Nottingham see carrying weapons as essential for protecting themselves.
Nottinghamshire Police has around £10m a year less to spend compared with five years ago, and has closed police stations, re-organised investigative teams and merged departments with other forces to cope.
Last year former Chief Constable Sue Fish said cuts to its budget had had “a deep effect” on the force.
Among the figures released today are several fatal stabbings, including two which happened less than 24 hours apart in separate incidents in Sneinton.
Martin Maughan, 27, died after being found with stab wounds on West Walk, off Walker Street, Sneinton early on December 13. Less than 24 hours later Junior Fuller, 38, was stabbed to death on Mill View Close.
And in July 2016 Aleksandra Mrozik was stabbed to death by her partner Pawel Lupa, 40, in Gleneagles Drive, Kirkby-in-Ashfield. He was later jailed for life.
Her death came a month after Aqib Mazhar, 19, was knifed to death in Russel Road, Forest Fields. Hamza Omar Adam, 19, formerly of Berridge Road in Forest Fields, pleaded guilty to his manslaughter and was jailed.
Notts TV has contacted Notts Police for comment on the latest figures.
The police announced this week they are running a crackdown on knife crime alongside other forces.
Officers have carried out targeted stop and search operations in areas including Radford to try to catch people carrying weapons.
Chief Constable Craig Guildford said: “Nationally there has been an increase in knife crime, and the force has carried out a detailed audit of our crime recording, to ensure we are compliant with the national standards.
“By doing this, and ensuring we are compliant with National Crime Recording Standards (NCRS), means we capture the true picture of offences across Nottinghamshire, and can target our activity accordingly.
“We take the local issues of knife crime extremely seriously and are working with partners to tackle all aspects of this through education, engagement and enforcement activity. This week however, we have been supporting a national operation, being carried out by most Forces across the country.
“Knife crime is a national issue and we are showing our support for the national drive to tackle the issue. We have a dedicated knife crime team who are continuing to use intelligence to target those who we know are likely to be carrying knives.
“As we know, knives are easily available. There is a lot of work ongoing to establish why we are seeing an increase in this sort of offence, but we need to make it unacceptable. We need everyone to take a stand against it, for people to speak to their loved ones about the risks of carrying a knife, and to try to understand why those who carry a knife feel it is something they have to do.
“It isn’t something that the police can solve alone, it needs to be a joined up effort, involving parenting, education and partnership activity.”
Police and Crime Commissioner Paddy Tipping said: “We take knife crime very seriously, in fact Nottinghamshire is one of the few forces with a dedicated knife crime team.
“There have also been a series of events and exercises over the last week which show just how much we mean business when it comes to tackling the problem. In addition, we will soon be publishing a revised knife crime strategy.”
