Knife Crime

metman

In the last week we've had 4 murders on my borough, 3 of which have been as a result of stabbings. Knife crime here is at an all time high despite police making good inroads into tackling the issue through setting up a dedicated task force here.

My question is this: in the face of an emerging threat, should police have a blanket power to stop and search for offensive weapons?

Victor

I think there was a piece on www.bbc.co.uk yesterday to say that increase in knife crime were pretty much restricted to London, with definite drops in Scotland.

At what stage does "Reasonable Suspicion" become "Stop and Search" become "Harass the Community"?

Eru

Gardai have a power to search for weapons with reasonable suspicion already.

Sometimes it would be nice to have the power extended but for the most part it is sufficient.

Victor wrote: »

At what stage does "Reasonable Suspicion" become "Stop and Search" become "Harass the Community"?

It depends on who is included in 'the community'. Gardai should be harassing criminals and stopping and searching them is part of being proactive in dealing with these people before innocent lives are effected.

metman

Karlitosway1978 wrote: »

Gardai have a power to search for weapons with reasonable suspicion already.

As do we. I meant should police have a power to search without suspicion.


The Government appears to have done an about-turn on its new knife crime policy.


The Home Office says it is 'clarifying' what Jacqui Smith said yesterday. In an interview with Sky's Adam Boulton on Sunday Live, Home Secretary Jacqui Smith said youngsters caught with knives would be forced to confront the possible consequences by bringing them face-to-face with blade victims in hospitals.

But now, the Home Office said they would instead only be expected to meet doctors to be educated about the injuries caused by knives.
"One of those proposals is that people caught carrying knives should be taken to see people in hospital who have been stabbed, or to meet the families of victims, is that correct?" Adam asked.

"It is," replied Ms Smith.

The apparent u-turn follows a scathing response to the plans from opposition parties and doctors' groups.

Donald Mackechnie, clinical vice-president of the College of Emergency Medicine, told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme: "We certainly don't think it would be a good idea if then potential or actual perpetrators of knife crime were marched through to see these patients, who are in an extremely vulnerable state."

Shadow home secretary Dominic Grieve said "ill-thought-through, piecemeal announcements and failed initiatives" would not solve the problem, and Lib Dem home affairs spokesman Chris Huhne said Mrs Smith had been "panicked" into bringing forward proposals which evidence in the United States had shown did not work.

"Jacqui Smith is coming up with half-baked ideas because the Government has been in denial about the scale of the knife crime problem," he added.
Earlier, Gordon Brown outlined the three key areas of his knife crime prevention plan: enforcement, punishment and prevention.

The Prime Minister has told his monthly news conference that "people do not feel safe in the streets" as a result of knife crime.

Addressing reporters in Downing Street Gordon Brown admitted: "Too many people, young and old, do not feel safe in the streets, and sometimes even in their homes, as a result of the behaviour of a minority.

Mr Brown reiterated that the Government needs to make it "absolutely clear to everyone" that it is "completely unacceptable to carry a knife".

Meanwhile, Scotland Yard Deputy Assistant Commissioner Alf Hitchcock told Sky News that it could take a generation to get the solution to the knife crime crisis right.

Dep Asst Comm Hitchcock said it was "undoubtedly a worrying trend" that the age profile of knife offenders had fallen to the mid-teens.

New national service measures would apply to children aged 16 and 17 who are unemployed and not continuing their education.

Knife crime tsar, Alfred Hitchcock: "What I was talking about was a form of opportunity for them which is disciplined and it does give them all of those life skills and does give them opportunities to go on and gain future employment after it," he said.
"The people committing these crimes - who are a tiny, tiny minority - do need to be addressed through strong and robust enforcement, and clearly that's what we're doing at the moment.

"They clearly need to understand that committing knife crime offences is going to result in a custodial sentence but also, along with those things...we need to have a longer-term approach that is going to address the underlying causes and get to the root of the problem."
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Maybe I'm missing the point but wouldn't it just make more sense to lock up those caught with weapons, instead of coming up with elaborate schemes to make it look like the government is doing something, instead of actually doing something. God forbid it'd spend money on building more prisons. :rolleyes:

JonAnderton

The major factor missing from all this is....Common Sense...

If we had a blanket power, like Sec 44, but for Offensive wapons, it would take about a day before the crys of 'Discrimination' were heard. The government and powers that be need to be able to rise above this and just have the bo****s to do it. I think that with the number of people being killed or injured now, terrorism type preventative powers might be needed... I think the majority of front line officers are more likly to come across someone carrying a blade than a terrorist carrying somethingelse nasty himself...

Also, had an idea regarding the prison situation. Presently, Op Safeguard is used to relieve the over crowded prision population. As much as I hate the idea of safeguard (unless you're the gaoler on OT's) Why not use these safeguard places to hold people in on weapons charges. That would mean no TV, no playstations, three job canteen or over-nuked all day breakfasts a day... proper stir, not these summer camps they go to at the moment... Maybe their Rec time could be used doing something useful, like, I don't know...sewing PCSO hats...