00:00 This may seem like an unassuming building, but inside, Lennox Rogers changes lives.
00:05 For 18 years, he has been the CEO of the Refocus Project in Dartford,
00:09 which has helped those in gangs put their criminal lives behind them.
00:12 Given his past, if anyone knows whether these amnesty bins being introduced at Gillingham Police Station this week would work, it's Rogers.
00:20 I was in two gangs and I carried a knife.
00:23 And had they had an amnesty bin out, I would only have used it
00:28 if I saw the police up the street, perhaps doing stop and search or something like that,
00:37 it would have been a safe place to get rid of my knife, but it wouldn't have stopped me.
00:43 So what is to be done? That is a question that the Ben Kinsilla Trust is trying to answer.
00:47 They believe that the bins can be effective, but only alongside other policies.
00:53 Where we've seen knife crime amnesty bins be most effective is when they're run alongside educational programmes,
00:59 particularly for young people in schools.
01:01 So helping young people understand that carrying a knife puts you in greater danger
01:06 and myth-busting what many young people will see on social media about a knife protecting you
01:11 and offering you some kind of self-defence. It doesn't, it puts you in greater danger.
01:15 These feelings are being echoed by Rogers.
01:18 He believes that unless preventative measures are put in place, this bin may not work.
01:23 It's like putting a plaster on a gaping wound, really.
01:27 I think it's not really going to have the desired effect.
01:34 You have to help eliminate the fear as to why people want to carry a knife or other weapons in the first place.
01:43 And I don't think the amnesty bins are going to take away the fear.
01:50 The plan announced last week said the bin would be outside the station,
01:53 with Police Sergeant Ross Haybourne of Medway's Community Safety Unit saying,
01:58 "Every knife left in one of these bins is one which cannot be used to harm or threaten victims in our community."
02:04 I would urge anyone who has a knife in their possession,
02:06 or knows a family member or friend who may carry one, to report it or hand it in.
02:10 I'm outside Gillingham Police Station, where there's not an amnesty bin in sight.
02:15 We were inside the police station where we saw someone trying to hand in a bladed article,
02:20 but they couldn't because there is no bin.
02:23 Now Kent Police say the bin is inside the station.
02:26 What we do know is while this bin may be offering amnesty to those with bladed articles this week,
02:31 without preventative solutions, the path to peace on Kent streets could be on a knife's edge.
02:37 Oliver, Leader of the Sacks, for KMTV.
