Knife violence is now a policing piority
July 11th 2009 01:20
The UK has the highest rate of knife violence, with one article claiming knives are responsible 6 deaths a week. While other nations have not yet reached such high incidents of knife violence, there can be no denying that knife violence is on the rise.
In Australia, the Premier of the state of South Australia has proposed amendments to existing laws to stamp out knife violence. The full article can be read here, but the proposed changes include;
-Police to use hand-held metal detectors to find knives
-Banning the sale of knives to children (under 16). This law has been in place in my state for as long as I can remember, I have no clue why South Australia is lagging.
-Creating a new offence of supplying a knife to a person, knowing that person intends to use it to commit a serious offence.
-Making people who are charged with having an offensive weapon provide their excuse for having the item before trial.
While I have no answers for why some people launch into unprovoked knife attacks, not all knife carriers claim to want to use them.
Some of those who carry knives claim they do so in self defence. An Australian 60 Minutes report from last month (sorry, I couldn't find link to it) featured an interview with an ethnic teenage male who stated he had two small knives which he had started carrying as protection from groups of youths who harassed him because of his ethnicity.
Similar logic exists in the UK where Gary Trowsdale, spokesperson for anti-violence group Damilola Taylor has stated "Some youths now carry bladed weapons out of fear for their safety, without malevolent intent, but that needs to be discouraged because the knives can be turned on them". The full article, which features a more detailed look at UK knife violence can be viewed here.
The UK has launched a crackdown on knife violence which has seen a 17% drop in serious injuries and deaths caused by knives, but there has been a call from former Metropolitan Police deputy assistant commissioner, Brian Paddick, for greater resources to tackle the problem. "You need to have specialist detectives working on these issues..." he stated in an interview with BBC Radio 4. A BBC article on the matter can be viewed here.
Knife violence is clearly a serious issue, but resolving it must surely involve finding and treating its cause. What makes someone pick up a knife and attack random passers by? Is it poverty, video games, thrill seeking? Insight would be greatly appreciated.
In Australia, the Premier of the state of South Australia has proposed amendments to existing laws to stamp out knife violence. The full article can be read here, but the proposed changes include;
-Police to use hand-held metal detectors to find knives
-Banning the sale of knives to children (under 16). This law has been in place in my state for as long as I can remember, I have no clue why South Australia is lagging.
-Creating a new offence of supplying a knife to a person, knowing that person intends to use it to commit a serious offence.
-Making people who are charged with having an offensive weapon provide their excuse for having the item before trial.
While I have no answers for why some people launch into unprovoked knife attacks, not all knife carriers claim to want to use them.
Some of those who carry knives claim they do so in self defence. An Australian 60 Minutes report from last month (sorry, I couldn't find link to it) featured an interview with an ethnic teenage male who stated he had two small knives which he had started carrying as protection from groups of youths who harassed him because of his ethnicity.
Similar logic exists in the UK where Gary Trowsdale, spokesperson for anti-violence group Damilola Taylor has stated "Some youths now carry bladed weapons out of fear for their safety, without malevolent intent, but that needs to be discouraged because the knives can be turned on them". The full article, which features a more detailed look at UK knife violence can be viewed here.
The UK has launched a crackdown on knife violence which has seen a 17% drop in serious injuries and deaths caused by knives, but there has been a call from former Metropolitan Police deputy assistant commissioner, Brian Paddick, for greater resources to tackle the problem. "You need to have specialist detectives working on these issues..." he stated in an interview with BBC Radio 4. A BBC article on the matter can be viewed here.
Knife violence is clearly a serious issue, but resolving it must surely involve finding and treating its cause. What makes someone pick up a knife and attack random passers by? Is it poverty, video games, thrill seeking? Insight would be greatly appreciated.
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