Second Knife Crime & Safety Summit held in Feltham

Feltham and Heston MP Seema Malhotra last week hosted a second Feltham, Hanworth and Bedfont Knife Crime and Community Safety Summit working with community youth organisations Rise & Thrive and Perfectly Imperfect.

The Summit was convened following the tragic death of Maliki Sharma on Feltham High Street. It was called in response to an urgent appeal from local leaders and the community for more investment in support services and safer opportunities to protect Hounslow’s young people. While knife crime in Hounslow has fallen by 9% since 2024, this remains a persistent concern that demands a whole of community response.

Speaking about the Summit, Malhotra said: ‘‘The past two years have seen the devastating loss of two young lives, while antisocial behaviour and youth crime in Feltham Town Centre and more widely is significantly affecting local families and businesses.

‘‘We desperately need to do more to protect young people at risk of crime by working together more closely across the community and with local services to see an end to knife crime in our community.

‘‘The work started here will continue.’’ The Summit brought together police, schools, community organisations, parents, the local council and the Mayor of London’s Violence Reduction Unit to build a shared understanding of the challenges and how they can further support and respond to young people involved in criminality. It aims to further their work on how to protect local residents and shops from anti-social behaviour and develop how they work together as a community and as agencies through a long-term strategy as well as building relationships with young people at risk and taking weapons off our streets.

A representative for Feltham, Hanworth and Bedfont police teams said: ‘‘We are committed to working hard to making Feltham, Hanworth and Bedfont safer for our young people and the wider community of Hounslow. We continue with a precision crime fighting approach, listening to our communities through ward panels and regular public meetings that are open to all. We are bringing more offenders to justice for a variety of offences, working with our key partners to continue engagement and diversion practices to prevent future offending of some of our most vulnerable young people.’’

The collaborative efforts aim to support young people to be positive contributors to society, develop action plans for those most at risk of being drawn into crime and work together to reach into families in need of greater support. The Summit will be followed by further regular meetings.

The Summit is the start of a sustained programme of work and will continue building partnerships, interventions and opportunities needed to protect young people, support families and make Feltham, Hanworth and Bedfont safer for its residents.