A raft of measures to tackle knife crime has been agreed overwhelmingly by Bristol city councillors. More than £650,000 will be spent installing and improving CCTV on local authority land over the next two years, a serious violence strategy covering the city and wider region will be developed and “blind spots” for attacks will be designed out of future planning developments.
The motion was tabled at a meeting of full council on Tuesday (March 14), by Cllr Mohamed Makawi (Green, Cotham) whose friend Adam Ali Ibrahim was fatally stabbed in Castle Park on January 31. Labour made several changes to the proposals which the Greens initially opposed before the chamber voted in favour, with just one Green member against.
Speaking afterwards, Cllr Makawi said: “I am delighted my motion passed tonight – the council has sent a clear message that Bristol can, and will, do more to tackle knife crime and, most importantly, its causes. By taking simple steps like providing emergency bleed kits and training to night-time venues, fixing ‘blind spots’ and providing more lighting and CCTV in hotspots, we can save lives.
