Wiltshire Police first force to use educational psychologist to tackle knife crime
Wiltshire Police is the first force in the country to work with an educational psychologist, using Home Office funding for a year-long project to support young people at risk of knife crime.
How it was covered
- BBC One was the only channel found covering it, concentrating on Wiltshire Police's first-in-country educational psychologist scheme and Owen Dunn case.
- Channel 5, BBC News, BBC Two, Channel 4, ITV and Sky News: not found in tracked broadcasts.
The Full Story
A plain summary built from the channels that reported this story. Facts only one channel reported are attributed to it.
BBC One West reported that Wiltshire Police has become the first force in the country to work with an educational psychologist to tackle knife crime. In a report by Murray Lennon, the channel said the force had been given Home Office funding for a year-long project.
According to the report, the project will provide specialist support to young people at risk of offending and train officers. The educational psychologist said officers' jobs are to understand the why, and the aim is to give them skills to interact with those young people.
BBC One West reported that 80% of young people within the justice system have some form of special educational need or disability. The report said that figure rises to 86% for those who have committed violent crimes, meaning a higher share of violent offenders have these needs than the justice population overall.
The force thinks its officers can do more to build trust with those at risk of becoming involved, the report said. The report also quoted a force representative saying the programme and the psychologist's case study would help inform the force and its partners about what might be missing in a child or young person's life.
BBC One West reported that knife crime in Wiltshire is rare, but incidents increased last year, bucking the national trend of a decline. The report also featured Owen Dunn, an 18-year-old who was stabbed to death in Swindon in 2022. A charity was set up in his memory to try to save other young lives.
The report quoted a speaker connected to the charity saying two boys were involved in his murder and that they had been let down badly. The speaker said: 'I strongly believe that Owen would still be here' if measures like this had been in place before. BBC One West reported that the police hope understanding why people want to carry knives, and supporting them, might prevent more tragedies.
Key Claims
Claims reported during this story's coverage, grouped by how many channels reported each one. Select a dot to see the source excerpt.
| Claim |  |
|---|---|
| Only on one channel | |
| Among young people in the justice system who committed violent crimes, 86% had special educational needs or disabilities. | |
| Knife crime in Wiltshire, though rare, rose last year while nationally it fell. | |
| Wiltshire Police became the first UK force to work with an educational psychologist to tackle knife crime. | |
Channel Perspectives
What each channel focused on, with key quotes.
BBC ONE West was the only channel in this sample to cover the story. Its report framed the initiative as a first-in-the-country preventative approach, giving space to the psychologist's explanation and to a charity set up after Owen Dunn's death. It balanced the force's rationale with criticism that earlier intervention might have saved him.
- “They're the first force in the country to work with an educational psychologist”
- “80% of young people within the justice system have some form of special educational need and or Disability”
- “I strongly believe that Owen would still be here”
Broadcast Timeline
News broadcasts tracked for this story, in time order.