State of Knife Crime in the UK

With the Government announcing a 'Violent Crime Action Plan' (view it by clicking here), I have a genuine belief that real progress could now be made in 2008 or thereabouts. Maybe I'm too optimistic, but this must be an appropriate direction. I'm not saying the problems will be solved, but there could be reasonable progress.

That said, I still think it's important to highlight the current state of knife crime in the UK, as I said I'd do.

I came across a useful website that covers some of this - www.insight-security.com

As well as containing details of knife crime (see rest of this post), you may find it useful and helpful to check the following information on that website:

Statistics - about the sources

Statistics - some specifics / the numbers

Who is at risk

Public perceptions

Tackling the problem - current initiatives / and some suggestions

Information sources / interpretation

Metal Detectors / Body Scanners and other technology aids

Tips on knife safety

Legislation relating to Weapons / Knives / etc

It seems that hardly a week has gone by without at least one high profile stabbing being reported in the press or on the national news.

Figures obtained under the freedom of information act show that there is a knife crime committed in the UK every 24 minutes! In fact the figures show that there can be 5,500 serious knife crimes in the UK in just 3 months.

In March 2007, following the fatal stabbing of Adam Regis (and four other fatal stabbings within the previous week), the then Home Secretary John Reid finally admitted that we don't know enough about knife crime, and ordered police forces to start collecting statistics on the use of knives in crime, as the Government does not know enough about the scale of knife violence!

This must be viewed as a positive step (if somewhat late in the day), as current statistics are simply unreliable.

As an example, based on one survey, a worst case projection indicates that 60,000 young people (predominantly male) may be stabbed and injured in the UK each year, whilst a rather more conservative estimate could be 22,000.

The discrepancy in the two figures should not really be surprising as the figures were derived from the questioning of around 600 under 25 year olds, who were asked whether they had been knifed or stabbed, and then extrapolated to provide a "National Statistic" (Governments Offending, Crime and Justice Survey - OCJS).

Whatever the actual numbers, it is clear that the persons most likely to be at risk from knife violence are; young, black or Asian males, living in high crime inner city areas, ...but as is all too evident from the events of the last year, young or old, ordinary citizens, solicitors, police officers, etc., no one is exempt!

Few would argue that anyone has a need to carry on the streets of Britain, the sort of lethal blades you can see collected in amnesties across the country, and it's illegal to do so (generally speaking, the carrying of any knife other than a folding pocket knife with a blade length of less than 3" is illegal in the UK).

Knife crime - influential report highlights Government failure

It is shocking to see a knife crime happens every 24 minutes in this nation - that's 5,500 serious crimes involving knives in just three months this year. (For more info, see The Independent article.)

As echoed in this blog since it started in 2006, a new report shows a failure to draw up a coherent Government strategy appears to be the major factor preventing violent knife use.

Study more details about this finding on the BBC site. The report is by King's College London criminologists.

Contrast this considered report with facts such as: fewer than one if five criminals using knives are jailed - see story in The Telegraph. And the occasions in which a knife was used in successful muggings have soared, from 25,500 in 2005 to 64,000 in the year to April 2007 (The Telegraph).

Once again it becomes clearer and clearer that the Government must step up to the task.

(Think I may have solved the technical problems with my blogging tool - I'm using a new computer! So, I intend to keep tracking knife crime matters vis this blog. As I've been away a little while, I'm going to work to better measure the knife crime landscape and put together a fresh assessment about what's going on, who's doing what etc. Watch this space...)

I've added a couple of new features to the blog so you can more easily track and read posts - you can now easily subscribe by e-mail or RSS feed. Just use the links in the top right section of this blog site.

For those who don't remember, I went to the assistance of a woman who was killed from knife wounds in an attack at a McDonalds restaurant in Chichester. See my previous blog post.

Knife crime not being tackled

A couple of stories have just caught my eye - that the government is too soft on knife carriers, and a girl was stabbed in her school break.

No-one can blames us for wondering what effective action is being taken, so the government deserves the brickbats, I reckon.

For a start, it is worrying that knives are carried in school. Maybe metal detector-type security scanners will have to be used?

Don't know - but the knife scourge affecting this country doesn't seem to be improving - so calls for action must continue.

(Apologies for less posts lately - there are some ongoing technical problems with blogger which are hampering my efforts. Not sure if they'll be a fix anytime soon but I'll do my best to keep posting. Keep your comments and stories coming...)