Solutions to the knife crime menace in the UK: part 1

WHAT progress has been made tackling knife crime in the years since this blog started? I've taken a little time out to reflect on the situation over the summer holidays... hope these reflections and evaluations prove useful.

In the book 'Britain etc', the journalist Mark Easton (Home Editor at the BBC) reports a stark but simple truth about the latest knife crime facts: "As a rough average, two people are murdered every day in Britain. The most common weapon used is a blade or other sharp instrument. The most likely stab victim is a young man." In fact, a third of all murders are caused by some kind of blade or other stabbing implement.

So, in a very clear way, that brings us right up to date with the knife crime statistics - and very terrible they are too.

So, more reflectively, my first blog post was published a few months after the fatal stabbing of Jacky Marshall, a supervisor in a McDonalds restaurant at Chichester, West Sussex, England, on a Saturday lunchtime in April 2005 when children's fun and parties were in full swing.

I was a witness who went to try to help the victim, cradling a fatally injured Jacky in my arms as her life ebbed away. It was most devastating to her family and traumatising for many, not least this anti-knife crime blog writer. The Crown's case against the killer Shane Freer was not yet begun and I had decided to try to make a difference to the wider national debate and deliberations about knife crime by starting a blog that provided focus on forming solutions and gave some kind of coherent outlet for the outpourings and anguish of those affected by this scourge of the nation.

At that time I recall an undercurrent of awareness about quite frequent knife attacks and a powerlessness to address what was sensed as a kind of invisible evil. Media attention was certainly less attentive and highly reactive. High profile cases, for example the horrendous deaths of Stephen Lawrence, Damilola Taylor and Ben Kinsella, expressed national as well as local outrage - but there was possibly not the highest appropriate focus on addressing the depraved violence that was, and continues to be, a sickening hallmark of all knife crime across the nation - and of course mostly any kind of violent attack.

The parents of Stephen Lawrence parents pursued justice for their slaughtered son pretty much all the time this blog has run - see Stephen's timeline for justice. Similarly, the parents of Damilola Taylor have campaigned for solutions to problems in inner city communities (see the Damilola Taylor trust website). And then there was the Kinsella family campaigning and the formation of The Ben Kinsella Trust, led by his actress sister Brooke.

In addition to these, there are the many other victims, equally innocent and no less deserving of public attention. Pictures of many (from London) can be seen on this knife crime blog post.

And so, where are we now - really?

I've observed many groups and families affected by such crime; as well as obvious grief and a desire for comfort, they search I've noticed (sometimes unconsciously) for some kind of focal point to best channel their grief to solve the devastation of a killing that has afflicted their lives and lives of friends, relatives and of people within their local communities. They look for some kind of societal and national unity, some kind of common group, banner or standard to rally around. With this, families and friends of victims across the country - perhaps the world - would feel they can make better progress together to deter aggressive, violent, weapon-carrying behaviour. 

I've observed Government clumsily offering a little solace and resource to help. I've seen too that Government, as in many other areas, fail to properly measure, better understand and communicate about the violence issue. And yet, obviously, Government is full of people with concern and good intentions.

So how to stop the killing, the maiming with blades - or indeed with any weapon? How much closer is a solution, or achieving synergy across a variety of suggested solutions and initiatives?

My view is there is now much greater understanding about where solutions could be found. More research and knowledge about the causes of knife crime are available. But I think many campaigners and communities need to work out how to arrive at solutions more quickly. That's not a criticism; it's more about moving towards the common goal of eliminating knife crime, as much as possible, in parallel with all other campaigning. Possibly greater leadership is needed to bring all this together, perhaps more objective leaders who can help bring together all those different anti-violence initiatives, groups and individuals, and national + local officials.

Look for areas where significant differences can be made. For example, most murders are 'male-on-male', confrontational or grudge/revenge killings. 

Confrontational might typically be about a couple of alcohol-fuelled lads not intent on killing the other (initially). So reducing fights and alcohol use on Saturday nights makes sense with many police and pub security staff always involved here providing deterrents most weekends. (More killings occur on Saturdays than Mondays!) If only young men would drink more responsibly, then our streets and drinking holes would not be so fearsome at nights.

Grudge killings however tend to be premeditated and weapons are carried to the scene, frequently linked to gangs with boys and teenaged men aged 10 to 19. Some 13% of these 'gangsters' have carried knives in the previous year, according to research. Killings happen due to being 'dissed' - disrespected, disparaged, or simply feeling treated with such contempt. 

These people really need to 'grow up' in this tough, modern world, take some personal responsibility for their lives and actions - but they can't seem to deal with 'tough' - they prefer silencing problems with weapons; it seems an easier solution.

But you can't say that to them perhaps... it would be likely to make things worse.

And of course, what this country's business and political leaders offer as an alternative to aggressive weapon-carriers doesn't appear that appealing or palatable i.e. hard work with no guarantee of decent wages, pension, reasonable prices, decent home, affordable taxes etc. And not forgetting corrupt banks, greedy psychopathic corporations, bullying workplaces and the like. And not forgetting too, research tells us, the 'dog-eat-dog' work environment as dictated by business, political and local leaders, especially in the UK. It's a world many do not want, do not want to participate in (especially young men). There's little in it for them. Using a knife or a gun with violence brings some control to some people's lives, it seems.

In my next post I reflect on the knife crime statistics in more detail and also examine in a fairly broad sense the causes of knife crime, specifically poverty. Check back here when you get chance. Thanks for reading.

Racism and knife crime

A person is a person is a person; a human being.

Anyone who takes a knife, or other weapon, and inflicts injury or death on another person for (deluded) reasons connected to the colour of her or his skin is someone who commits a racist assault or killing.

Not much more definition needed to make it clear what is a racist (knife) crime... crystal clear.

(Photos of some knife crime victims: many people of different colours, many of them should have been too young to die...  :'-(  http://knifecrime.blogspot.com/2010/12/murderous-death-toll-england-capital.html )

Gun + knife criminals revel in their reputations

Browsing around WH Smith's (as all of us in England or other parts of the UK must have done at some time or another), the 'True Crime' section sounded alarm bells. A sizeable section made up of several shelves, the faces of the bad, the violent and the ugly were impossible to miss.

Time is at a premium as I write this so will add to this post later sometime. However, thought I would throw open this post to comments from all. What's your opinion about these type of people enjoying plenty of shelf space in our stores while the work of the good, the kind and the gentle often goes unnoticed? You tell me.

Anne Frank and the Stephen Lawrence stabbing

Anne Frank... recognise that name? Today, the full impact of murder most foul, undescribable evil - and knife crime - hit home in a powerful way. Anne was the German Jewish teenager killed by the Nazi machine in World War Two.

I saw the full horror of the Holocaust in just a few words and evocative images of an era not so long ago - when human beings slaughtered others because they were Jewish, or judged to not be as able-bodied as others.

It was shocking and made me angry inside.

You know, Nazis or concentration camp 'staff' threw poison crystals into the shower areas that vaporised into poisonous gas that took up to 20 minutes to kill all in the those showers?

What sort of person, gang - or political faction - does that?

For some reason, I understood why men and women in Britain took up arms to defend our people from such despicable activities by the Nazi regime - and other sick-minded folk, no doubt.

Where was all this revealed? Would you believe it was at an exhibition in my home town, Chichester, in a small corner of quiet place where people can reflect. I saw the history of the Holocaust brought to terrible life alongside the writings and daily activities of a virtually imprisoned Anne Frank.

Then the exhibition confronts some of the worrying social issues confronting modern Britain today including knife crime, gun crime and racism.

A memorial to Stephen Lawrence, the young black teenager believed to have been killed by white racists, rests on one wall of the display, testament to a quite peaceful fight for justice this country has rarely seen.

Anne Frank wrote in her diary: “I want to go on living even after my death!”

And so she is - her thoughts are working their way through the whole world via this exhibition and the Internet.

Anne Frank is a symbol of the millions of innocent children who have been victims of persecution. Anne's life shows us what can happen when prejudice and hatred go unchallenged.

Would you sign up to the Anne Frank Declaration:

Because prejudice and hatred harm us all, will you declare that...?

• You will stand up for what is right and speak out against what is unfair and wrong.
• You will try to defend those who cannot defend themselves.
• You will strive for a world in which our differences will make no difference – a world in which everyone is treated fairly and has an equal chance in life.

To understand more about her, see the Anne Frank Trust UK website - and think about how to challenge the prejudice and reduce hatred perpetuated by sick people who pick up knives and other weapons to destroy, maim or injure other human beings. You'll learn much more by visiting an Anne Frank exhibition - it would be great if someone puts it online.

When I criticise people who are racist, fighters, criminals, I know I make myself a target for potential malice and a vent for their irritation, even violent anger. My being a thorn in the side or a pain in the neck, however, is like nothing compared to a blade in the abdomen or a knife used to carve and disfigure a human body - or face.