John Hannett – Usdaw General Secretary: “The number of violent crimes has risen sharply. About 5.3 million crimes were recorded over the last 12 months, up 14% on the previous year. With the cuts to police numbers, it comes as no surprise that we are seeing an escalation in the more serious and violent crimes.
“We must make it clear that we are not attributing this increase in violent crime solely to young people. Violent crime is happening across our society. But, this year, we have seen an increase in the number of young people, including teenagers, losing their lives through violent crime. And we know that education is key to crime prevention.
“We need to focus on educating young people on the devastating impact of violent crime, especially as we need to reduce the number of young people who are losing their lives as victims of violent crime.”
Notes for editors:
Usdaw (Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers) is the UK's fifth biggest and the fastest growing trade union with over 430,000 members. Membership has increased by more than 28% over the decade. Most Usdaw members work in the retail sector, but the union also has many members in transport, distribution, food manufacturing, chemicals and other trades.
For Usdaw press releases visit: http://www.usdaw.org.uk/news and you can follow us on Twitter @UsdawUnion