Purpose Executive summary - New Zealand Ministry of Justice

25 February 2010

Hon Simon Power, Minister of Justice

Knife Possession

Purpose

1. This briefing responds to your request for information on knife possession. It covers
knife possession laws, statistics on possession offences, measures taken in the United
Kingdom to deal with knife crime, analysis and options for further work.

Executive summary

2. The Summary Offences Act and the Crimes Act each contain an offence relating to knife
possession. The penalty levels for these offences are in line with similar offences.
However, consideration could be given to raising penalty levels, especially for the more
serious Crimes Act offence.

3. Police apprehension rates for possession of a knife in a public place have remained
relatively stable over the past decade. Apprehension rates for possession of an
offensive weapon have increased; although it estimated that only 19% of these offences
involve knives. Changes to information technology systems to improve data sharing
between agencies would increase our understanding of the extent of knife possession
offending.

4. In response to concerns about increasing knife crime the UK government introduced new
legislative, enforcement, prevention and educative measures. While the situation that
led to these measures (e.g. widespread multi-racial gang-related tensions) is quite
different from that in New Zealand some of the measures may be useful here. For
example a local accord between retailers, local authorities, the Police and stakeholders
to limit knife sales to young people.

5. Much of the concern in New Zealand and the UK around knife possession centres on
young people. The Government has a number of initiatives to reduce youth offending,
particularly the Fresh Start programme for young offenders, and young people at risk,
and cross-agency work to address the Drivers of Crime. Nevertheless officials believe
more could be done to educate young people in schools about the dangers of carrying
knives.

6. The Ministry is able to undertake further work involving other government agencies on
the ideas discussed in this paper, should you wish us to do so.

Background

7. Concerns about knife possession laws were recently raised by Justice Asher, in
sentencing two young people for murder and manslaughter. Justice Asher‟s sentencing
notes state:

The time may have come for Parliament to reconsider the terms of section 13A of
the Summary Offences Act 1981, which make it an offence to carry a knife without
reasonable excuse. Somehow a very strong message has to be imparted to young
people that it is utterly impermissible for knives to be carried in public places,
particularly on city streets at night.1

8. The Youth Justice Independent Advisory Group (IAG) recently provided you with advice
on reducing violent offending by young people. In their advice they raised concerns
about the potential for serious harm that exists when knives, alcohol and immaturity are
all involved. The IAG suggested targeting places where young people gather and
searching and prosecuting them as a way of tackling this problem.

Knife Possession Laws

9. There are currently two offences covering knife possession, one in the Summary
Offences Act 1981 and one in the Crimes Act 1961.

10. Section 13A of the Summary Offences Act 1981 (possession of knives) states:

Every person is liable to a term of imprisonment not exceeding 3 months or a fine
not exceeding $2000 who, in any public place, without reasonable excuse, has any
knife in his or her possession.

11. Section 202A of the Crimes Act 1961 (possession of offensive weapons or disabling
substances) states:

Every person is liable to a term of imprisonment not exceeding 2 years who,
without lawful authority or reasonable excuse, has with him in any public place any
knife or offensive weapon or disabling substance.2

12. A power to search is contained in section 202B of the Crimes Act. Where the Police
have reasonable grounds for believing that a person is carrying a knife or offensive
weapon in a public place, they have the power to stop and search that person or any
vehicle from which the person has alighted. The search power will be moved to the
Search and Surveillance Bill.

Penalties

13. The Crimes Act offence (section 202A) which provides for a maximum of two years
imprisonment is consistent with other penalties in the Act for similar offences. There are
two other relevant offences in the Crimes Act which make possession of a particular item
an offence:

Section 227: being in possession of an instrument3 to be used in conversion of a
vehicle, ship or aircraft (1 year); and

Section 233: being in possession of instruments for burglary (3 years).

1 R v Selby and Fraser, High Court, CRI-2007-092-20293.
2 “Offensive weapons” have been held to include firearms, a swordstick, a police truncheon, a knuckleduster,
a cosh, and a dagger.
3 “Instrument” includes any tool or device.

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14. Like knife possession, possession of the above objects does not itself cause harm to any
other person, but has the potential to cause harm if the objects are misused. Section
202A (with a penalty of 2 years) sits between section 227 and 233.

15. However, in contrast to the two possession offences above, the seriousness of a second
breach of section 202A (possession of an offensive weapon) is increased by a specific
sentencing direction to the Court: section 202BA of the Crimes Act provides that the
court must impose a sentence of imprisonment for a conviction under section 202A
where a person has a previous conviction within the last two years for the same offence.

16. The offences in the Summary Offences Act target very low level offending with more
serious offenders charged under the Crimes Act. The penalty in section 13A of the
Summary Offences Act of imprisonment of less than three months or a $2000 fine is the
same as similar offences in the Summary Offences Act. For example, Section 14,
possession of burglary tools.

17. The penalties for both section 13A and section 202A are similar to the penalties for
similar offences in New South Wales4, Australian Capital Territories5, and South
Australia6. In the UK, the penalty for possession of a bladed weapon under the
equivalent of Section 13A is comparable, but the penalty for the equivalent of section
202A was raised in 2006 from two to four years‟ imprisonment.7 However, the UK
legislation does not have the sentencing direction to the Court that is in section 202BA of
our Crimes Act

18. The Ministry does not consider that the current penalty levels for knife possession
offences are low relative to similar offences, especially when the additional impact of the
mandatory imprisonment is considered. However, consideration could be given to
raising the penalty levels in both section 13A in the Summary Offences Act and section
202A in the Crimes Act. The penalty for section 202A could be raised to three years, so
that it is consistent with the three year penalty in section 233 (possession of instruments
for burglary).

The relevance of reasonable excuse

19. Knives are a common item, found in homes and workplaces. Many people have a knife
in their possession for a legitimate reason, such as for picnics, barbeques and farm-
work. The two knife possession offences therefore contain a “reasonable excuse”
proviso. It is necessary to retain such a proviso in order that people with a legitimate
purpose for carrying a knife are not unreasonably criminalised. Removing the proviso
would make the law difficult to enforce.

4 Section 27D of the NSW Summary Offences Act 1988 (unlawful possession of offensive weapons or
substances): 2 years‟ imprisonment or 50 penalty units ($5,500).
5 Section 380, Crimes Act 1900 (possession of offensive weapons and disabling substances): fine of $1,000
and/or imprisonment for to six months.
6 Section 15, Summary Offences Act 1953 (offensive weapons etc): fine of $2,500 or imprisonment for six
months.
7 Under section 139 of the Criminal Justice Act 1988 (possession of a bladed weapon), the penalty on
summary conviction is 6 months‟ imprisonment or a fine of up to £1,000, and the penalty on indictment is 4
years‟ imprisonment (see Violent Crime Reduction Act 2006, section 42)

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Knife Possession Trends

20. In this section statistics on knife possession and possession of an offensive weapon are
provided from four different sources to give a comprehensive picture of knife possession
in New Zealand:

1. Police apprehension data
2. court prosecution outcome data
3. District Court sentence and Youth Court orders data
4. self-report data on carrying weapons from surveys of secondary school students.

21. Police apprehension and court prosecution outcome data is presented in two ways: 1) as
raw numbers and 2) as a rate per 10,000 population. Rates-based Police and court data
is used to comment on trends over the last decade as it takes into account the effect of
any population change, which raw numbers do not.

22. The data presented in this report indicates that the rate of Police apprehensions and
prosecutions for knife possession offences under the Summary Offences Act has been
relatively stable over the past ten years. The rates for apprehensions and prosecutions
for possession of an offensive weapon under the Crimes Act have increased, but it is not
known whether there has been an increase in the possession of knives. Self-report data
from secondary school students does not suggest an increasing trend in the number of
young people carrying weapons.

23. The Police have also recently undertaken a separate analysis of knife possession and
knife use offences. Their analysis indicates that knife crime is not a significant problem,
both in terms of the risk of victimization and offence trends. They also do not consider
that there are problems with the possession laws or their enforcement.

24. To improve our understanding of knife possession offences changes to information
system technology changes are needed to allow this information to be shared between
agencies.

Police apprehension data

25. An apprehension is recorded when a person has been dealt with by the Police in some
manner (eg prosecuted). The raw number of apprehensions represents the number of
alleged offences not the number of alleged offenders, as people who are apprehended
for more than one offence are counted once for each offence. For example, one offender
apprehended for five knife possession offences is counted as five apprehensions.

26. Table 1 presents the number of Police apprehensions for possession of a knife in a
public place (Summary Offences Act) and possession of an offensive weapon (other)
(Crimes Act), by 14 to 50 year olds, 1999 to 2008.

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Table 1: Number of Police Apprehensions for Possession of a Knife in a Public Place (Summary Offences Act)

and Possession of an Offensive Weapon (Other) (Crimes Act), by 14 to 50 year olds, 1999 to 2008

Offence Age 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008

type group

Possess 14-16 177 153 178 177 154 138 184 215 182 194

Knife in a 17-20 268 249 250 298 279 282 293 318 280 259

Public Place 21-30 285 285 267 287 342 247 285 325 304 268

31-50 186 183 208 222 256 272 296 317 313 274

Total offences 916 870 903 984 1031 939 1058 1175 1079 995

Possess 14-16 229 247 282 264 367 269 427 449 430 478

Offensive 17-20 498 466 590 543 625 576 688 905 802 820
Weapon 21-30 604 518 649 722 714 751 780 876 855 872
(Other) 31-50 430 490 582 623 748 673 752 852 818 836

Total offences 1761 1721 2103 2152 2454 2269 2647 3082 2905 3006

27. Figure 1 presents Police apprehension rates per 10,000 population for possession of a
knife in a public place (Summary Offences Act), by 14 to 50 year olds, 1999 to 2008.
This shows that the 17 to 20 and 21 to 30 year old age groups have the highest
apprehension rates for possession of a knife in a public place. However, their rates
declined over the 1999 to 2008 period; from 16.4 to 13.6 per 10,000 population for 17 to
20 year olds (or 259 apprehensions in 2008, see Table 1), and from 13.2 to 10.4 for 21 to
30 year olds (or 268 apprehensions in 2008, see Table 1).

Figure 1: Police apprehension rates per 10,000 population for possession of a knife in a public place
(Summary Offences Act), by 14 to 50 year olds, 1999 to 2008.

28. Police also record apprehension data on the Crimes Act offence of possession of
offensive weapons or disabling substances. This offence can involve a wide range of
weapons, including for example, everyday household effects (eg plates), bottles, axes,
sticks, bricks, baseball bats and knives.

29. The justice sector is working to improve the quality of this data. Data is collected in all
instances for offences where the weapon type is included within the offence description
eg possession of a knife. In July 2008, the Police National Recording standard was
implemented requiring the collection of weapons information for relevant offences that
currently do not specify weapon type eg possession of an offensive weapon. Monitoring
of the effectiveness of this standard commenced in July 2009 and the early indication is
that this data is now being collected in most instances. Using this data, a snapshot of
Police apprehensions for possession of an offensive weapon for the 2008/2009 financial
year shows that 680 (19%) of these apprehensions involved a knife (if weapons data was

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collected in all instances the proportion of apprehensions involving knives could be
higher).
30. Currently, however, this data is not routinely shared across the justice sector. Indicative
costs of between $50,000 and $100,000 for information technology system changes
would enable it to be shared for data analysis and reporting purposes. Final costs can be
ascertained once detailed specifications have been agreed between Police and Justice.
31. Figure 2 presents Police apprehension rates per 10,000 population for possession of an
offensive weapon (other) (Crimes Act), by 14 to 50 year olds, 1999 to 2008. This shows
that, as with possession of a knife in a public place, 17 to 20 year olds have the highest
apprehension rates for the broader category of possession of an offensive weapon8, and
an estimated 19% of these apprehensions involve knives. Their rate increased over the
1999 to 2008 period; 23.0 to 31.9 per 10,000 population (or 820 apprehensions in 2008,
see Table 1).

Figure 2: Police apprehension rates per 10,000 population for possession of an offensive weapon
(other) (Crimes Act), by 14 to 50 year olds, 1999 to 2008.

32. The 14 to 16 year old age group recorded the second highest rate for possession of an
offensive weapon, which increased from 14.0 per 10,000 population in 1999 to 25.2 in
2008 (or 478 apprehensions in 2008, see Table 1).

Court prosecution outcome data
33. Court prosecution outcome and sentence data is presented as the raw number of

individuals prosecuted in a calendar year (sometimes one person may appear in court
several times within a year; that person is only counted once) and as rates.
34. The majority of apprehensions for possession of a knife in a public place or possession
of an offensive weapon result in a court prosecution. Table 2 presents the number of
individuals successfully prosecuted9 for possession of a knife in a public place (Summary
Offences Act) and possession of an offensive weapon (other) (Crimes Act), by 14 to 50
year olds, 1999 to 2008.

8 An offensive weapon may be an item which is offensive per se or which the person intended to use offensively (such
as a brick, screwdriver or knife).
9 That is a District Court conviction or discharge without conviction, or Youth Court proved outcome

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Table 2: Number of Individuals Successfully Prosecuted for Possession of a Knife in a Public Place (Summary

Offences Act) and Possession of an Offensive Weapon (Other) (Crimes Act), by 14 to 50 year olds, 1999 to 2008

Offence Age 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008

type group

Possess 14-16 29 24 24 19 24 24 20 34 29 29

Knife in a 17-20 130 116 131 142 147 160 159 186 166 170
151 150 139 138 156 158 135 197 178 164
Public Place 21-30

31-50 88 85 96 108 96 146 160 182 179 161

Total individuals 398 375 390 407 423 488 474 599 552 524

Possess 14-16 54 50 61 55 56 58 65 100 84 78

Offensive 17-20 296 235 275 264 320 311 348 484 479 480

Weapon 21-30 373 331 316 355 394 377 447 473 482 481
(Other) 31-50 232 249 287 342 329 335 416 441 444 460

Total individuals 955 865 939 1016 1099 1081 1276 1498 1489 1499

35. Figure 3 presents the rate of individuals successfully prosecuted for possession of a
knife in a public place (Summary Offences Act), by 14 to 50 year olds, 1999 to 2008.
This shows that as with Police apprehensions for both possession offences, 17 to 20
year olds have the highest rate of individuals per 10,000 population who were
successfully prosecuted for possession of a knife in a public place. Their rate increased
slightly over the 1999 to 2008 period, from 6.0 to 6.6 per 10,000 population (or 170
distinct individuals in 2008, see Table 2).

36. The 21 to 30 year old age group recorded the second highest rate for possession of a
knife in a public place, which remained relatively stable at 2.8 per 10,000 population in
1999 and 3.0 in 2008 (or 164 distinct individuals in 2008, see Table 2).

Figure 3: Rate of individuals successfully prosecuted for possession of a knife in a public place (Summary
Offences Act), by 14 to 50 year olds, 1999 to 2008.

37. Figure 4 presents the rate of individuals successfully prosecuted for possession of an
offensive weapon (other) (Crimes Act), by 14 to 50 year olds, 1999 to 2008. This shows
that 17 to 20 year olds also have the highest rate of individuals per 10,000 population
who were successfully prosecuted for possession of the broader category of an offensive
weapon, with an estimated 19% of these comprising the possession of knives. Their rate
increased over the 1999 to 2008 period, from 13.6 to 18.7 per 10,000 population (or 480
distinct individuals in 2008, see Table 2).

38. The 21 to 30 year old age group recorded the second highest rate for possession of an
offensive weapon, which increased from 6.9 per 10,000 population in 1999 to 8.5 in 2008
(or 481 apprehensions in 2008, see Table 2).

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Figure 4: Rate of individuals successfully prosecuted for possession of an offensive weapon (other) (Crimes Act),
by 14 to 50 year olds, 1999 to 2008.

District court sentence and Youth Court orders data
39. District Court sentence and Youth Court orders data for 2008 show:

41% of 14 to 50 year olds (208 individuals) who received a District Court sentence or
Youth Court order for possession of a knife in a public place received a community-
based sentence (including home detention)
17% (86 individuals) were convicted and discharged in the District Court
15% (75 individuals) received a monetary penalty
14% (74 individuals) „other‟10 sentences
13% imprisoned (69 individuals).
40. For possession of an offensive weapon in 2008:
50% of 14 to 50 year olds (728 individuals) received a community-based sentence
(including home detention)
17% (250 individuals) were imprisoned
15% (217 individuals) received „other‟ sentences
11% (157 individuals) received a monetary penalty
7% (96 individuals) were convicted and discharged.

10 Includes charges where there was a stay of proceedings. Also includes charges where the person was found to be
under disability or was acquitted on account of insanity, and an order was made under section 115 of the Criminal
Justice Act 1985 and sections 24 & 25 of the Criminal Procedure (Mentally Impaired Persons) Act 2003.

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Self-report data on carrying weapons

41. The University of Auckland surveyed approximately 10,000 secondary school students in
2001 and 2007 on their health and wellbeing.11 The Ministry contributed funding towards
these surveys and the results provide a rich source of self-report data on young people‟s
health, education, behaviour and other matters. The surveys asked students “In the last
12 months how many times have you ever carried a weapon (e.g. a knife), thinking about
harming someone?” In 2001 and 2007, 9% and 9.4% of male students reported carrying
a weapon such as a knife in the last year, while 3% and 2.9% of female students
reported this.

42. There has been a small increase in the number of students who reported using these
weapons. In 2001 and 2007, 3% and 3.6% of male students reported having attacked
someone with a weapon in the last year, while and 1% and 1.1% of female students
reported this.

Knife Crime in the United Kingdom

43. Knife crime began to receive a lot of media and political attention in the UK following a
series of high profile crimes involving knives in 2007. While knife crime statistics tended
to mirror trends in overall violent crime up to 2005, there was a sharp increase in the
number of knife homicides over 2006-08, accompanied by an increase in stab-related
hospital admissions. Media coverage of knife crime that focused on incidents that were
gang and/or youth-related contributed to increased public fears about knife crime in
200812.

44. The reforms in the United Kingdom were in response to a greater level of multi-racial
tension and wider public concern than we have experienced in New Zealand. It is too
early to know whether they have reduced knife crime on an on-going basis.
Nevertheless, some of the strategies are worth considering from a „good practice‟
perspective.

45. To tackle knife crime the UK government has implemented a range of initiatives,
including:
1. Legislative changes – doubling the maximum sentence for carrying a knife in public
from two to four years (for adults aged 18 years and over) and raising the age at
which you can buy a knife from 16 to 18.13
2. Enforcement – increasing the use of stop and search powers by police to target
people suspected of carrying knives and increased enforcement of the law around
the sale of knives to young people.

11 See New Zealand Youth a Profile of Their Health and Wellbeing and Youth’ 07 The Health and Wellbeing of
Secondary School Students in New Zealand. The University of Auckland.

12 Home Office (July 2009). Research Report 18: Tackling Knives Action Programme (TKAP) Phase 1: Overview of key
trends from a monitoring programme.

13 Section 141A(1) of the Criminal Justice Act 1988 prohibits the sale of knives to persons under 18 years of age (this
was raised from 16 years by the Violent Crime Reduction Act 2006).

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3. Tackling Knives Action Programme – tackling knife crime among youth in ten police
force areas in the UK and Wales. Key activities implemented under this initiative
include local partnerships between police and schools; providing additional funding
to existing community groups to tackle knife crime; and Knife Possession
Prevention Programmes, which target first time offenders by confronting them with
the dangers of carrying a knife.

4. National advertising campaign – a £3 million Home Office campaign including TV
advertisements, billboards and virtual advertisements; supporting local initiatives to
help send out the message that knife carrying is unacceptable.

5. Six Point Commitment – a voluntary agreement between the Government and
retailers that encourages them to adopt best practice to reduce underage sales of
knives. The agreement covers the display of signage that knives will not be sold to
those under 18 years of age, till prompts to check for proof of age, ensuring the
storage and display of knives minimises risk of theft, and staff training. Twenty-one
large retailers had signed the agreement as at August 2009.

6. Data collection – measures to enhance reporting and recording of crime in order to
gather better data on the real nature and scale of the problem.

46. Further information about the UK experience with knife crime is outlined in the appendix.

47. You will be travelling to the UK in May. If you wish, the Ministry can arrange meetings for
you to discuss the knife crime initiatives referred to above.

Analysis and Options to Reduce Knife Possession

Offences and penalties

48. Based on advice from the Police it seems that the current offence provisions generally
work well.

49. As we note in the section on knife possession laws in New Zealand, the „reasonable
excuse‟ proviso is necessary and the Search and Surveillance Bill aligns the search
powers with other similar powers in the law. Penalties for the offences are generally in
line with other similar offences; in fact the Crimes Act weapon possession offence has a
harsher element, given that imprisonment is mandatory upon the second conviction for
such possession.

50. Given the increase in apprehensions and prosecutions for the Crimes Act offence of
possession of an offensive weapon we could investigate an increase in the penalty for
this offence. The burglary tools possession offence provides a benchmark, with a
penalty of three years imprisonment. Focusing on the Crimes Act offence would target
the most serious offending of this kind. For example, the penalty could be increased to 3
years to match the burglary implements offence. Any amendment in to the penalty could
be achieved in the Bill to amend Part 8 of the Crimes Act as section 202A is located in
that part. That Bill is planned for introduction in April and the necessary work could be
completed to meet that deadline. However, this change would be likely to increase the
prison population and the number of offenders subject to home detention and community
sentences and orders. Therefore we would need to work on this proposal in
collaboration with our colleagues in Corrections before providing further advice.

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Enforcement

51. The UK has increased the use of stop and search powers by police and increased
enforcement of the law prohibiting retailers from selling knives to young people
(discussed below). The New Zealand Police already target areas where their intelligence
indicates there are high crime levels or problems with particular crimes and have
indicated that current search powers are adequate. Based on Police analysis, this is not
an area requiring additional attention at this stage.

Advertising

52. A national advertising campaign such as was undertaken in the UK (paragraph 47) would
be similar to the domestic violence “It‟s not OK” campaign. Such campaigns are costly
and their effectiveness is difficult to quantify. At this time there is little information on the
effectiveness of the UK campaign. The Ministry believes that targeted approaches such
as Fresh Start and education in schools are more likely to be effective that public
advertising campaigns

Initiatives targeting younger people

53. As noted earlier the Youth Justice Independent Advisory Group has expressed concerns
about young people (i.e. under 17 year-olds) carrying knives and the potential for serious
harm that exists when knives, alcohol and immaturity are all involved. Young people
have also been the focus of knife crime measures in the UK.

Fresh Start

54. The Government has recently introduced new measures to deal with serious youth
offending. Fresh Start legislation and programmes target the 1000 most serious young
offenders. This is the group likely to be carrying knives and involved in knife crimes.
The Children, Young Persons, and Their Families (Youth Courts Jurisdiction and Orders)
Amendment Bill currently in the House will give the Youth Court new tools to address
these types of offences and reduce re-offending - longer and more intensive supervision
orders, parenting, mentoring and drug and alcohol programme orders and judicial
monitoring of orders.

55. Fresh Start funding is also being used to increase community youth development
programmes targeted to young people who commit low level offences or are at risk of
offending, such as some of the young people in the Youth 2001 and 2007 surveys who
report carrying knives. Many of these programmes will include mentoring, an approach
that has been shown to be promising in reducing weapon related violence. 14

14 One recent US study concludes that “policies that emphasize the development of mentoring
relationships, especially in areas with a high incidence of weapon-related violence, could be quite beneficial
to youth.” Melissa Fleschler Peskin, Susan R. Tortolero, Robert C. Addy and Nancy F. Weller Weapon
Carrying Prevention: Should Adults Spend More Time With Youth. Youth Violence and Juvenile Justice
2009.

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56. Justice officials will work with Social Development on the way in which concerns about
knife possession can be addressed in Fresh Start programmes.

Alcohol

57. In relation to concern regarding alcohol and knife crime, and issues raised by the
Independent Advisory Group, as you are aware the Ministry is working closely with the
Law Commission to reform alcohol laws so that there are adequate controls on the sale
and supply of alcohol to reduce alcohol-related crime and other harms. Options to
reduce the availability of alcohol to young people in the Law Commission report will have
the effect of lessening the dangers of mixing alcohol with carrying knives. We will
address this in advice to you on the Law Commission‟s final report.

School Interventions

58. In the UK there has been a focus on the Police working with schools to reduce knife
carrying. The New Zealand Police Youth Education Service is already involved in such
work. Police Education Officers run programmes in schools, such as the Keeping
Ourselves Safe programme, where there are crime and community safety matters that
relate to that school. The Ministry can discuss with the Police how these programmes
could be used to educate young people about the dangers of carrying knives.

Sale of Knives to young people

59. The UK legislation makes it illegal to sell knives to those under 18 years, which was
raised from 16 years in 2006. Section 141A of the UK Criminal Justice Act 1988 states:

Any person who sells to a person under the age of eighteen years an article to
which this section applies shall be guilty of an offence and liable on summary
conviction to imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months, or a fine not
exceeding level 5 on the standard scale, or both.
(2) Subject to subsection (3) below, this section applies to— (a) any knife, knife
blade or razor blade,(b) any axe, and (c) any other article which has a blade or
which is sharply pointed and which is made or adapted for use for causing injury to
the person.

60. New South Wales also prohibits the sale of knives to under 16 year-olds (subject to a
penalty of $5,500) and South Australia recently released a discussion paper on knife
laws which includes the option of a sales ban to young people.

61. Introducing a prohibition on knife sales to young people would be a new development in
New Zealand, but not unprecedented. The recent enactment of legislation around the
sale of graffiti implements under the STOP strategy is one example of restricting the sale
of materials likely to be used for criminal purposes. However, unlike spray-paint there is
a wide variety of knives which are used for legitimate purposes even by young people.
In the UK the restriction seems to have had little or no impact on public safety. As a first
step, a voluntary accord could be developed in association with retailers, local authorities
and Police. Accords could be focused on those areas where Police intelligence indicates
there is a knife problem.

62. A legislative approach would require work with retailers and Police to develop an
appropriate approach as there would be costs associated with the restrictions for

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retailers and on Police for enforcing the ban. The approach of working with retailers and
Police was adopted in developing anti-graffiti provisions.

Next Steps

63. Once you have indicated which, if any, of the proposals in the previous section you wish
to pursue we will undertake further work with other agencies. The exact timeframes
depend on the options you are interested in. The changes to legislative penalties would
take about a month, but work on restricting knife sales is likely to take 3 months given the
greater amount of development work required with other agencies and stakeholders.
Once you indicate your preferences we can provide you with a more detailed timetable
for each of the initiatives.

Recommendations

64. It is recommended that you:

1. Note that Police apprehension rates for possession of a knife in a public place have
remained relatively stable over the past decade. Possession of an offensive
weapon apprehensions have increased; although it estimated that only 19% of
these offences involve knives;

2. Note that the United Kingdom have recently introduced legislative, enforcement,
prevention and education measures to deal with increasing concerns about knife
crime;

3. Indicate whether you would like the Ministry to undertake further work, involving
other agencies, on any or all of the following matters:

3.1 Increasing the penalty under the Crimes Act for YES / NO
possession of an offensive weapon (any amendment to be
advanced in the Crimes Amendment Bill making changes
to Part 8 of the Crimes Act);

3.2 Education in schools on the dangers of carrying knives; YES / NO

3.3 Using Fresh Start programmes to address the dangers of

young people carrying knives; YES / NO

3.4 The development of a voluntary accord, involving retailers, YES / NO
local authorities, the Police and other stakeholders, to limit
the sale of knives to young people;

3.5 Improvements to information system technology interfaces YES / NO
to enable the Justice sector to routinely share information
on weapon types and thereby gain a better understanding
of the nature and extent of knife possession offences.

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4 Note that the Ministry will provide you with a detailed timetable for the development of
initiatives identified for further work in recommendation 3.

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Appendix: Knife crime in the United Kingdom (UK)

1. Knife crime began to receive a lot of media and political attention in the UK following a
series of high profile crimes involving knives in 2007. Most of the media coverage
focused on stabbings that were gang-related or acts of random stranger violence, and
involved young people15. Concerns were raised regarding the impact of this coverage,
that it:

may have contributed to an increase in young people carrying weapons because it
fuelled the perception that everyone else was carrying them;
negatively portrayed young people; and
inappropriately glamorised knife crime16.

2. Data about knife crime in the UK are contained in a number of different sources17.
Violent knife offending data tended to mirror trends in overall violent crime up to 2005/06,
however between 2005/06 and 2006/07 the number of knife homicides rose by over a
quarter. In addition, stab-related hospital admissions increased by 48% between
1997/98 and 2006/07, indicating that knives were being used to inflict more serious
wounds.

3. The majority of data about knife possession relates to young people, with evidence
indicating that in certain areas carrying a knife is considered „normal‟. Most young
people who carry knives claim they do so for protection; status and peer pressure are
also factors.

4. As with overall violence in the UK, the majority of knife victims and perpetrators are
young men in their late teens and early twenties. The high levels of knife violence since
2006 is also linked to an increase in street violence between groups of young people
(gangs), as well as domestic violence.

Initiatives to tackle knife crime in the UK since 2006

Legislative changes and provision of sentencing guidance
5. The government introduced legislative changes via the Violent Crime Reduction Act

2006, which (among other measures) increased the maximum sentence for knife
possession to four years. In addition, the Sentencing Guidelines Council produced

15 For example, a series of fatal stabbings that took place in March 2007 include: Adam Regis (aged 15 years) stabbed
by ‘hooded young men’ in East London; Kodjo Yenga (age 16) in West London *four youths (age 13, 13, 15 and 16)
were charged with the murder]; Jason Spencer (age 17) in Nottingham; Stephen Parken (age 22) in Tameside (seven
people were later arrested); and Odwayne Anthoney Barnes (age 16) in Birmingham (three people were charged with
his murder). Source: BBC News (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/6467753.stm).

16 House of Commons Home Affairs Committee (June 2009). Knife Crime: Seventh Report of Session 2008-09.

17 The Homicide Index, the British Crime Survey, police recorded crime, Hospital Episode Statistics, the Home Office
Offending, Crime and Justice Survey and MORI Youth Survey.

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guidance that sets a starting sentence point for the lowest level of knife possession of a
12-week custodial sentence (this applies to adults aged 18 years and over).

6. In June 2008 the UK Prime Minister publicly stated that there is a presumption to
prosecute knife-carriers, and that punishment will be severe – either prison or a tough
community payback. The Home Office reported in December 2008 that cautioning
across the UK had decreased and the use of tough community sentences had increased.
In London, over 90% of people caught with a knife are charged18. Evaluation of phase 1
of the Tackling Knives Action Programme (TKAP) Initiative (outlined in further detail
below) also noted an increase in the number of prisoners serving a sentence for
possession of an offensive weapon and an increase in the average length of a custodial
sense for both adults and juveniles in 2008/09 compared to 2007/08.

Data collection
7. Police began recording figures for knife enabled offences in 2007 following a direction

from the Home Secretary John Reid to address data limitations to determine the real
nature and scale of the knife crime problem. Prior to 2007 „knife-enabled crime‟ was not
recorded separately by the police because it fell within other offence categories.

8. In addition, from 2007 the government extended the British Crime Survey to under-16s.
However, there are limitations remaining that inhibit a full analysis of the knife crime
problem, such as poor reporting rates and lack of recording by police19.

Operation Blunt 2
9. Implemented by the Metropolitan Police Service in May 2008, Operation Blunt 2 targets

areas where a senior Police officer reasonably believes that incidents involving serious
violence may take place, and it is expedient to search people and vehicles to prevent
these incidents, The wide powers allow officers to search people and vehicles without
any grounds for suspecting that the person or vehicle is carrying weapons or articles of
that kind. The powers are limited to a twenty-four hour period with an extension
available20

10. The programme focuses resources on young people, key places and times of day,
including post-school patrols. Its rationale is that it will reduce the risk of serious violence
and provide reassurance to young people and the wider community.

11. While figures relating to stop and searches and recovery of weapons in TKAP areas
(below) are positive, an analysis of Metropolitan police stop and search statistics from
April to October 2009 by a leading British criminologist has yielded a different picture.
The results show that there is not necessarily a strong correlation between the use of the
stop and search power and a reduction in knife crime, with the areas using these powers

18 Home Office (December 2008). Tackling Knives Action Programme (TKAP): Fact Sheet.

19 11 Million (2009). Young people, and gun and knife crime – a review of the evidence (www.11MILLION.org.nz).

20 Section 60 of the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act

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the most not always getting a better result in terms of incidence of knife crime than the
areas that are using the powers the least.

12. Additionally, concerns have been raised that stop and search powers risk alienating
young people while using a large number of police resources21. In one period during
Operation Blunt 2, 48,000 people were stopped and searched and 2,000 arrested –
some might interpret these figures to mean that 46,000 innocent people had been
targeted22. Operation Blunt 2 also highlighted a racial element – of 80,000 people
searched by the London police during one period, more than 55,000 were of African-
American decent23.

Tackling Knives Action Programme (TKAP)
13. Launched in 2008, TKAP is a Home Office-led initiative to reduce the carrying of knives,

related homicides and serious stabbings among teenagers (age 13-19 years). The
programme was implemented in ten police force areas in England and Wales via a range
of local police enforcement, education and prevention interventions. While it was
originally intended to be a time-limited initiative, the Home Office announced additional
funding for the programme in March 2009. The age range for the programme has also
since been broadened to include 13-24 year olds.

14. The key activities implemented under TKAP include:

Safer Schools Partnerships – dedicated police officers are allocated to one or a
group of schools to keep children safer and help generate confidence in safety at
school (5,300 have been implemented). Funding has been provided for after-
school patrols to help young people feel safer in their journey home from school.

Providing support – funding has been provided to small community organisations
working to tackle guns, gang and knife crime among young people in TKAP areas.
Funding has also been provided to parenting organisations to provide confidential
advice and support for parents who are concerned about their children carrying
knives.

Knife Possession Prevention Programmes – piloted by the Youth Offending
Teams in the TKAP areas, the knife possession prevention programmes targets
first time offenders by confronting them with the dangers of carrying a knife.
Anecdotal information suggests that this programme has had a positive influence
on the behaviour of young people convicted of knife possession in TKAP areas.

Activities for children to divert them from crime – funding has been provided for
positive activities on Friday and Saturday nights, in TKAP areas where crime and
anti-social behaviour are a concern. The Home Office has also funded the

21 BBC News (25 January 2010). Available at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-
/2/hi/uk_news/england/london/8479124.stm)

22 New Zealand Listener (20 February 2010). Knives Out (pp. 23-25).

23 Ibid.

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organisation Be Safe to provide workshops to young people on the dangers of
weapons.

Test purchase operations – in the TKAP areas police are carrying out test
purchase operations for underage sales of knives, to clamp down on retailers that
sell knives to young people. In addition, the government has implemented a „Six
Point Commitment‟ to stop the illegal sales of knives to those under 18, to which 21
major retailers have signed up.

Increased enforcement – in the TKAP areas police have increased the use of
their stop and search powers to target young people suspected of carrying a knife.
Police report that knife carrying is reducing among young people, with the
proportion of stop and searches in TKAP areas resulting in the recovery of a
weapon halving from 4% in 2008 to 2% or under by the first quarter of 2009. The
number of weapons possession offences in TKAP areas involving offenders aged
19 or under decreased by 13%. As noted in paragraphs 12 and 13 some concerns
have been raised about the use and results of increased enforcement.

15. As the TKAP initiative has only been in operation since 2008, it is difficult to evaluate its
impact. Key findings from Phase 1 of TKAP were published in 2009, suggesting that
fewer young people are becoming victims of crime. However, the report notes that the
findings should be treated with caution due to the provisional nature of data, the lack of
statistically robust comparison groups, the dominance of the overall trend by the largest
police forces, and the potential impact of non-TKAP initiatives.

Anti-knives campaigns and education
16. The Home Office invested in a national advertising campaign during Phase 1 of TKAP

with a message „it doesn‟t have to happen‟, which includes virtual adverts online and on
mobile phones and billboards in specific community sites. During Phase 2 of TKAP, the
campaign continues with a new message „carry a knife, lose your life‟, which includes TV
advertisements and outdoor posters in areas often frequented by young people. The
campaign is intended to support local initiatives to help send out a clear message that
knife carrying is unacceptable.

17. The TKAP evaluation notes that 73% of young people say that the advertisements make
them less likely to carry a knife. However, the Home Affairs Committee noted their
concern that such campaigns may not reach the most „at risk‟ young people and fail to
engage with the realities of street violence.

Formal investigation and Government response
18. In July 2008, the House of Commons Home Affairs Committee undertook an

investigation into levels and causes of knife crime, profiles, attitudes of offenders and
assess effective solutions‟ and to examine in particular a number of issues relating to
knife crime. The UK Government replied to the Seventh Report from the Home Affairs
Committee on Knife crime in August 2009, outlining action being taken to address their
recommendations.

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Youth Crime Action Plan
19. While not specific to knife crime, the government‟s Youth Crime Action Plan focuses on

enforcement, prevention and support to families at the greatest risk of offending, to stop
youth from being drawn into any kind of crime.

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