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One Minute Guide: Operation Divan

What is it?

Operation Divan is a Police-led, partnership initiative to support, challenge and discourage young people in North Yorkshire from carrying knives.

This One Minute Guide explains the context of Operation Divan and the role of agencies supporting this.

Youth knife crime is low in York, but with, a rising trend consistent with the national picture agencies will work together to support children and their families to help them to avoid becoming involved in Serious Youth Violence.

When North Yorkshire Police receive reports or intelligence about young people carrying knives, this is initially investigated to establish whether a crime has occurred, and if there is sufficient evidence for criminal charges. If this is the case, the Police are required by national crime reporting rules to process it through criminal channels. This may be by referral to the Youth Outcomes Panel or by charging directly to Court.

Operation Divan arises when the circumstances do not establish that a provable crime has occurred, but there are general concerns that the young person or others may be at risk through association with knives. Operation Divan is a preventative intervention and offers positive support to young people.

Instigation

If the investigating Police Officer is concerned that the circumstances indicate general concerns about knives, they will arrange to carry out an Operation Divan intervention. Best practice would see this intervention carried out with support from those agencies already working with the young person and their family.

If the young person is open to the Youth Justice Service, they will deliver the Operation Divan intervention on behalf of the Police,

If the young person is not open to Youth Justice Service, but is open to Children’s Social Care, or Early Help, then the social worker or practitioner will work alongside the police in the Operation Divan intervention.

On occasions where there is no existing support in place for the young person, a referral to either the Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH) or other support services will be considered in conjunction with young person and their family’s needs.

Importantly, Operation Divan is a focused discussion with the young person and their parents, to share our concerns and offer positive support.

Where will the Operation Divan visit take place?

Meetings with young people and their families will usually take place in the family home, but it may sometimes be preferable to use a private room in a school or other venue. Arrangements are considered on an individual basis taking into consideration of the views of the young person and their family. All interventions take place with the consent of the family.

At the meeting the investigating Police Officer will state clearly that the criminal investigation has finished, no provable offence has been identified, and this is not a criminal Interview.

The Police Officer’s main objective will be to explain the risk of knives/carrying a knife to the young person and their parents. This will include references to the criminal penalties, but the main focus is the very serious risks of personal injury or death. The purpose of the discussion is the understand the young person’s perspective and experiences and to answer questions such as, are knives becoming more common in their school or community? If so, why do they think this is? Professionals should be alert to issues like bullying, peer pressure or fear of being attacked with a knife.

The police will capture intelligence and learning from the meetings to support themselves and partners, to be confident in delivering key messages more effectively to discourage young people from carrying knives and to understand wider contextual safeguarding issues within their community/networks i.e. Is there a connection to organised drug distribution, or a particular threat in their community which causes the young person or their friends to feel unsafe?

The police officer will discuss with the parents whether they need additional support from other agencies and make referrals as appropriate. If the family are already working with a practitioner, the Police Officer should liaise with the relevant practitioner who should support and develop the discussion, moving towards agreement of what positive actions the young person and parents can take to reduce risk, and what support they may need.

At the end of the visit, the Police Officer will leave information with the young person and their family which summarises key points of the anti-knife message.

How do I make a request for Operation Divan?

Any request for an Operation Divan visit should be made to contacting North Yorkshire Police as follows:

Useful resources and further reading