BBC knife crime interviews and blog posts

Just posted a knife crime blog post to the BBC Radio 5 phone in. And earlier tweeted the following:

1. WISH politicians would stop electioneering and arguing in public about knife crime and work together on solving the issue.25 minutes ago from BeTwittered
2. INTERVIEW is now being used on BBC radio as a news item - wanted to suggest the UK appoints a knife and gun crime tsar to the problem.26 minutes ago from BeTwittered
3. BBC interview done - confusion reigns over the current knife crime figures, I said. Think you can listen to it again at http://bit.ly/a0Nwp29 minutes ago from BeTwittered
4. THE BBC are calling me in 20 minutes to do an interview on knife crime - anyone out there want me to make their point in the discussion?about 1 hour ago from web

Knife crime statistics - what's going on? And the politicians are trying to get votes...

Something funny is going on with knife crime figures.

According to the Telegraph, official figures show police recorded 38,082 serious violent or sexual knife offences last year - amounting to 104 every day.

But the previous year's figure was 25,013 - that looks like a 50 per cent rise. Apparently, the Home Office is taking a more detailed look at knife crimes, we're told, so ministers have changed the way crimes are measured

I think this means officials have realised knife crime was being under reported, buried away in other crime figures perhaps.

That said, convictions for carrying a knife have risen over 60 per cent from 3805 (1998) to 6169 (2007) has increased by more than half in ten years, it has been revealed.

Interesting that more people are being convicted - but are more people also carrying, and using, knives in these times?

There seemed to be progress a while back... now there seems confusion. People in charge seem to be doing a poor job communicating a true picture of the knife crime situation. That is not good. Maybe we need a knife and gun crime tsar?

I noticed the Tories (shadow home secretary Chris Grayling) are trying to make political gains, claiming Labour isn't doing enough to tackle knife crime. An election is looming so they are looking for votes. Is Labour doing an ok job? Can the others do any better? To be honest, it makes me sick to compare parties this way for such an emotive issue. Everyone wants to stop knife crime. These people should work together - and make it clear they are working together - on something as important as this or go back down the strange, power-crazed political hole they just climbed out of.

Long may the crackdown on knife carriers and stabbers continue though - but the crime fighters need to communicate and get their act together better.

To text a stabber, try the Crimestoppers service. And don't forget to vote in the poll at the top of the page on whether you would buy or be ok about using the potentially safer 'anti-stab knife'.

Call to ban knife sales by Trading Standards

Hey, this is good news - Trading Standards getting involved with banning sales of knives... online.

"Trading standards chiefs have called for a blanket ban on the sale of knives over the internet. Online retailers have ignored repeated warnings to stop selling them to children, the Trading Standards Institute (TSI) said.

"Mystery shopper research found as many as four out of five online stores were prepared to sell knives to children aged under 18, and in one case a 15-year-old boy was able to purchase four knives, including a large machete, using a debit card..."

Read the full 'anti knife crime' story about the call for a ban on blade sales by TSI

(Don't forget to vote in the opinion poll on anti stab knives. Just vote in the box at the top of this website - it literally takes a second of your time.)