SHEFFIELD youngsters need to feel "protected" before police will be able to stop them carrying knives and guns, a meeting of the city's youth council heard.
The claims were made at a meeting of Sheffield Youth Council last night to discuss knife and gun crime in the city in the wake of the shooting of 17-year-old Tarek Chaiboub in Burngreave, just a days after he was released from hospital following a knife attack.
Farah Shafique, aged 19 from Burngreave, said: "The police need to understand the problems facing today's youth.
"A lot of people who carry weapons do so for protection - unless we can establish a system that protects young people properly, they will keep carrying those weapons out of fear."
The Youth Council - which meets once a week - is planning to set up action groups in Sheffield to address some of the issues that lead to violent crime.
It will be piloted in one area first - possibly Burngreave or Pitsmoor - and then spread city-wide.
Youth council chair Hayley Smith, 17, from Manor, said: "Different neighbourhoods respond differently but we want to get young people involved in their community.
"We have spoken to the police who are keen to work with us but we know from our own experiences that young people's attitudes towards the police can be quite negative and we don't want them to be scared off.
"We need to re-establish their relationship with the police."
During the animated debate, the group touched on the "wall of silence" that can envelope a community after a serious crime has been committed. "Everyone might know who did a crime but they won't say," said 15-year-old Chekere Williams.
Farah added: "Anonymity or witness protection schemes aren't always enough.
"If you speak out against a criminal then they might get locked up but their friends and family won't."
The group are keen to reassure youngsters the action groups will not promote "grassing" on other young people who have broken the law.
But they want those who get involved to know there is someone to talk to if they find themselves in trouble.
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