Police officers targeting knife crime say their job is increasingly focused on watching training music videos posted on YouTube by local gangs.
Excalibur Task Force was originally set up by Greater Manchester Police in 2004 to stop gun crime, but the focus shifted to dealing with young people carrying knives.
The force’s statistics show more than 400 people under the age of 25 were injured by knives in the 12 months of 2023-2024, a decrease compared to the previous year.
Detective Inspector Cat McCune said many teenagers carried weapons to show they were “not to be messed with”.
Excalibur team members were trying to build relationships with gang members. [GMP ]
The task force was established in response to a notorious period in Manchester’s history when the city earned the name ‘Gunchester’ due to the prevalence of weapons among gangs.
The force’s operations are focused on hotspot areas in Trafford and south Manchester.
Xcalibre is now well known in these communities and referenced in training music videos used by police officers to gather information.
“They’ll say Xcal stopped the lockdown,” Lt. McCune said.
She said the force’s profile has led some young people in the gang to say they only talk to Excalibur officers.
“Their main need, and what they want from their group, is for them to be seen as someone who should be kept out of the way, both within their gang and rival gangs,” she told BBC Radio Manchester. told.
“And that they aren’t being dissed on the music track.”
“I was shocked.”
Training music videos, which may include lyrics describing acts of violence or recent attacks, are used by forces to monitor young people.
Lt. McCune said, “Certain gangs in our area wear bandanas of different colors. Some of those groups are really talented and put out music videos like Drill. ” he said.
“So they’re going to be talking about a recently murdered child, and that in itself can increase tensions within the community,” she said.
“Twenty years ago, we wouldn’t have watched Youtube to keep an eye on the local gangs. But now, a five-minute video can walk the streets for more than 10 hours and speak on behalf of people. I can see that you are trying to do that.”
According to police data, 44 out of every 100,000 under-25s in Greater Manchester are victims of knife crime.
The force uses video information to determine which gangs are fighting, but the supply of knives is another issue.
Detective Inspector McCune said: “The majority of the knives that our staff obtain are obtained online,” adding that they are “mostly legal”.
What has been taken off the streets is “some of the things that are actually there,” she added.
Her task force also discovered that several local stores were selling knives to teenagers.
Two days after 17-year-old Prince Walker was stabbed to death in Moss Sid in April, police sent 15-year-old cadets to shops to buy knives, and many were successful.
“I was shocked,” Lt. McCune said.
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