Illustration: Sam Knock
This podcast was recorded before a further fatal stabbing in Bristol took place on 20 September. A man has been charged with murder after Kunta Ceesay, 25, was attacked on Stapleton Road.
Over just 18 days at the end of January and the start of February this year, three teenagers were stabbed to death in Bristol – Mason Rist and Max Dixon in Knowle West and Darrian Williams in Easton.
For months, Cable reporter Sean Morrison has been digging into this spate of fatal stabbings and what can be done to tackle knife crime.
After joining up with other media in the city earlier this year to explore solutions to the crisis, Sean has been leading a new campaign called No To Section 60, which calls for an end to special stop and search powers without any suspicion.
In the aftermath of the fatal stabbing of Darrian Williams in Easton in February, Avon and Somerset Police used these special powers to search people in the area. And yet, no knives were found and people of colour were disproportionately targeted.
In this episode of the Debrief, Sean takes us behind the scenes of his reporting on this dark but important issue, from organising roundtables with young people affected by knife crime, attending community meetings and grilling senior cops about how stop and search can have a traumatising impact.
After uncovering how much anger there was about how these powers are being used in the wake of tragedies without proper consent from local people, the Cable launched a campaign to say no to section 60.
Listen in to hear about the impact of section 60 on young people in Bristol, how you can get involved in the campaign, and what alternative approaches are out there to tackling knife crime.
You can also read Sean’s original investigation, sign the petition, email your MP and watch these videos from campaigners and community leaders.
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Racist and traumatising: inside a Section 60 suspicionless stop and search operation
Officers searched innocent children, disproportionately targeted people of colour and undermined their anti-racism reforms during a 48-hour police operation in February. Their narrative that it was an effective knife-crime deterrent, done with consent, is misleading.
