An Garda Siochana in Cork City will formally launch a public awareness campaign on knife/weapon crime at 11 am on Monday, 17th October 2011 at Cork City Hall.
The campaign is directed at crime prevention and education on the dangers of Knife Crime in Cork City.
‘While we have been fortunate not to experience sustained high levels of Knife Crime in Cork City, there has nonetheless been a series of incidents that indicates that the carriage of knives is on the increase. We are aware of the potential for a wider issue to emerge whereby certain people may carry knives/weapon and use them to harm others.’’ according to Chief Superintendent Michael Finn of Cork City Garda Division.
This initiative was spearheaded by Superintendent Tom Myers of Mayfield who explained that the initiative builds on previous events run in Cork to highlight the dangers of Knife Crime. He stated ‘We want to intervene early with young people and bring home to them that if you carry a knife, it significantly increases the risk that it will be used on yourself’.
The campaign is supported by local sports stars who are excellent role models for our youth. Eoin Cadogan, in his support of the campaign, declared ‘We all have a responsibility to protect the young people of Cork and I personally wasn’t aware of the prevalence and danger of young people carrying knives’.
The message from An Garda Siochana is simple, if you are caught carrying a knife, you will be charged and brought to court. The public information campaign is directed at informing and educating young people about the danger of carrying knives and reducing the number of incidences of knife crime in Cork City. The ‘How Big Do You Feel?’ Campaign is ongoing at secondary level schools and sports clubs in the city. In addition, a ‘Voluntary Code of Practice’ has been developed for shops that sell knives/weapons in Cork who are co-operating with this initiative.
