Knife crime is a serious issues these days across England and beyond, leading to lives being put at risk, and also creating a climate of fear and anxiety.
The good news is that there are ways to address this problem at community level, to make our streets safer.
There have been huge rises in knife crime in recent years, particularly among young people. And it affects rural areas too, not just inner cities. Poverty and difficult circumstances are not excuse for violence.
But in order to prevent knife crime, we have to realistically look at why it happens, in order to do something about it. The most helpful preventive methods are undoubtedly outreach programs for young people, community policing (to build mutual trust) and knife amnesties.
Schools are obviously a great place to start, to help prevent knife crime. Teachers and visitors can educate on the consequences of knife violence, and the media can also play a part, by not making gangs and violence the norm in society.
Support Systems for Victims & Offenders
Victims (and relatives of victims) need immediately help for emotional trauma, as well as physical injuries. But likewise it’s just as important to rehabilitate offenders, so they go onto to lead law-abiding lives, and contribute to society.
Punishment may be the buzzword in some circles. But shoving someone away for 23 hours a day to come out a drug addict, makes knife attacks more likely to happen.
- Billy’s Wish is a charity founded in the name of an innocent knife crime victim. It offers free resources for schools.
- Fearless is a website where you can give information (anonymously) about a crime or fight that has taken place, or is being planned. The site has a quick close tab and there is no browsing history, personal details or IP address taken.
- Steel Warriors is a London charity that melts down knives taken off the streets, then uses the steel to make ‘street outdoor gyms’ for young people.
How Scotland Dramatically Reduced Knife Crime
A few years ago, Scotland was one of the developed world’s most violent countries by stats. And whereas England and Wales have seen knife crime rates soar, in Scotland the rates have dropped dramatically.
Whereas in 2017 England and Wales had a combined 35 stabbings, in Scotland there were none. This in a country where it used to be more dangerous to walk the street, than in LA or New York. So how did they do this?
As mentioned above, the reason was not very politically correct. As just as Norway has reduced street crime by focusing on community (rather than knee-jerk reactions to just ‘arrest people and lock them away’). Scotland did the same.
New policy is to help find those with knives a home, job and training to do something positive with their lives. Huge amounts of people in Scotland took up this offer, and now it’s rare to hear of anyone being stabbed.
In 2024, there were an estimated 50,000 knife crimes in England, an increase of almost 80% over the past 10 years.
In Scotland, there is more trust between the public and police. Distrust (often due to a few racist incidents in London) can build barriers that means trust breaks down, leading to more crime.
Sometimes there are random attacks (and terrorists attacks). But overall, knife crimes can be drastically reduced at community level.
Simply by building better trust between the public and police, community outreach and education schemes, combined with regular knife amnesties.
