The FAKE (Firearms And Knife crime Education programme) has been running across Hampshire and the Isle of Wight since July 2007.
The package aims to reduce the serious assaults, injuries and deaths that could result from the carrying of weapons.
As part of the campaign, we are actively engaging with the community to reduce both gun and knife incidents - and stop them from happening in the first place.
Almost 70% of all incidents that Hampshire Constabulary's firearms officers attend involve knives and imitation firearms. One hour of policing a firearms incident costs the equivalent of 27 hours of local beat policing.
Some of the guns that we seize from young people are so realistic that a firearms officer would not immediately be able to decide if they were real. Firearms officers have to treat every gun incident as if the weapon is a real one. Our concern is that a young person will find themselves confronted by armed police.
The package is presented by officers from the Tactical Firearms Support Unit, SNT officers and also PCSOs. There are currently 138 Safer Neighbourhood Team officers trained to deliver the campaign in primary schools across the force area. This remains a great opportunity for SNTs to engage with a group of people at high risk of being victims of, or involved in, crime on a subject that holds their attention.
The delivery of the package is overseen by Inspector Jim Pegler and coordinated by Judy Heard, who are both based at Fareham with the Armed Response Teams.
Since the launch, over 98,000 students from Hampshire and the Isle of Wight have received the presentation which has now been adopted by Dorset, Thames Valley and Wiltshire police forces, and we are working towards establishing a Joint Operations Unit working with Thames Valley Police to deliver FAKE. A competition has been launched for schools in Hampshire, Slough and Reading to design a logo or phrase to raise awareness around guns/knives and their dangers. Ch Supt Chris Shead
has agreed to judge the entries.
In the last academic year 31,000 people received the presentation. Since the beginning of this academic year 7,545 more people have seen it. Notably successful were inputs at 'freshers' days at FE colleges, where we combined with 'Staying Safe' (rape reduction) to deliver important messages to that key age group. These sessions were all requested by local SNT officers and they assisted in the delivery.
Young people are interested in this subject area, so FAKE is a great engagement tool. It has been successfully used to engage with and inform specific ethnic communities, and also in the form of a stand at community events.
Between October 2010 and March 2011 a Facebook and Google advertising campaign was carried out. The adverts were targeted at 17 to 24 year olds living in Southampton postcode area.
In the first month alone, the Facebook adverts were shown on over 3 million pages, and 517 people clicked on the adverts and viewed the dedicated web page. To see the page for yourself, click here.
Click here to contact the FAKE team.
Click here to download the FAKE logo.
Click here to download and print the FAKE resource pack.
Click here to view the FAKE calendar.
Click here to view the FAKE videos used during the presentation on the Hampshire Constabulary YouTube page.
Click here to see if you can tell the difference between a fake gun and a real gun.
Click here to visit the It Doesnt Have to Happen Bebo page.
Click here to visit the Hampshire Constabulary Facebook page.
Click here to visit the Crimestoppers website
