Knife Crime in the UK

Introduction

Knife crime is a crime that involves a knife. Knife crime incorporates trying to buy and carrying a knife while under 18. In essence, a knife crime includes burglary or robbery, where thieves carry knives as weapons. Knife Crime in the UK has been on a rise as there have been a total of 47,136 offenses that involve knives in Wales and England. Therefore, knives crimes have registered a 17% increment in the UK and are ranked the highest number since the start of the Home Office Homicide Index in 1946. This paper examines knife crimes in the UK, impacts the families, community and country, government role in reducing knife crime, the severity of knife crime punishment, and personal opinion on the subject matter.

Causes of knife crime in the UK

Mumtaz, Visaria-Shah & Komath (2019, p.717) argue that violent crimes among the youth are started and concluded with policing. However, academic investigations begin with young people's experiences as they seek to establish the underlying triggers of knife crime.

Changes in the Drugs Market: 'County Lines' and Increase in Cocaine Use contributes to the increased knife crime rate in the UK. Evidently, over recent years, young people indulgent in drugs have been growing at an alarming rate in the UK. An increment in recreational drug use, for instance, cannabis has been recorded among the youths aged between 11 and 15 years. Though there lacks evidence that this age group has additionally increased the use of class A drugs, convictions for children aged between 10 and 17 years for possession and production of class A focusing on supply, increased by 77% between 2012 and 2016, the triple equivalent increase among adult offenders. Mumtaz, Visaria-Shah & Komath (2019,p717) argues that one of the most striking findings concerning the rise in serious violence since 2014 is that it is not limited to metropolitan areas. They are hence linking increased knife crime to the county line's dealing phenomenon.

The county lines approach of dealing has seen gangs from major urban areas, for instance, Liverpool, London, and Birmingham exploiting drug markets in other regions and towns, often using vulnerable people and children. Dealers use dedicated county lines to secure orders from drug users with cocaine, heroin, and crack cocaine, which are the most common drugs involved. The county line problem has escalated in the UK. O'Hagan & Long (2019, p.275) argues that police in Wales and England have been affected by county lines as knife crimes are attributable to county lines. O'Hagan and colleagues say that the number of youths engaging in knife crime results from spillover from violence connected with the drugs markets, with evidence that gangs carry more weapons due to drug vending activity while others arm themselves for protection.

Peters (2019,p.85) argues that drill music, a form of social media and rap by gangs, rise with the recent increase of knife crime in the UK. The author further argues that the lyrics found in drill music incite real-world violence. Drill music is characterized by words that glamorize severe abuse, such as stabbings and murder.In essence, the in-depth description of the stabbing is joy and excitement. To this end, this form of music has contributed to the high rate of knife crimes executed by the youths.

Additionally, social media provides new opportunities for individuals to become involved with weapons and violence. According to Peters (2019, p.86), gang members have a big multitude of followers on social media, and the most viewed videos and comments are the ones that lead to retaliatory violence. The gang member's posts on social media glamorize gang life and weapons, and this provokes youths to emulate what they are seeing. Social media linked with both gang life and knife crime in the UK.

The introduction of a program identified as austerity aimed at reducing the deficit has significantly contributed to knife crime. The austerity policy contributed to a reduction in some public services budgets. According to Menichelli (2019, np), austerity has contributed to the rise of knife crime. The author further argues that knife crime symbolizes toxic environments created by adults around children, and subsequently, they become victims and perpetrators. The politics of austerity and politicians are the triggers of simplicity. According to Ruth, Thompson, &Sara (2019, p.11769), austerity is identifiable with the recent cases of violent crime rise. The author further argues that violent crime high rate is attributable to the states in the UK entire criminal justice system under austerity.The reduction of funds for various services such as social care, prisons, probation services, local government, mental health services, and youth services has contributed to knife crimes.

Additionally, the issue of county lines and knife crimes are linked to lack of support, opportunities, and services available to young people mainly from minority and black ethnic communities (O'Hagan & Long, 2019, p.279)

Impacts of knife crime to families, society and the country

Knife crime triggers diverse adverse effects on families, communities, and the state. Palasinski et al. (2019, np) argue that knife crime claims several deaths in the UK, leading to emotional torture for bereaved families. Also, the people who engage in knife crimes get imprisoned, leading to the psychological pain of their families. Mumtaz, Visaria-Shah & Komath (2019, p.717) also argues that knife crime impacts on communities, and victims are horrifying as the courts and police are powerless to address the issue. Knife crime has increased the financial burden for the government in the US in the pursuit of curbing this epidemic.

Government role in reducing Knife crime

To curb the escalating rate of knife crime, the UK government focuses on empowering the police officers to stop, search, and punish suspicious youths (Ruth, Thompson & Sara, 2019,p.1769). The UK government intends to launch knife crime intention orders which can impose curfews, social media, and geographical boundaries restrictions. Cause conviction and a two years prison sentence if the order is breached and can apply to anyone above 12 years carrying a knife, has been convicted of an offense related to knife crime or suspected by the police because of carrying a knife.

Ruth, Thompson & Sara (2019, p.1769) argues that the UK government is prioritizing children and young people. The UK government is working to invest in youth services, extracurricular and social care events, and spending on community-based policing to restore trusting relations. The author further argues that the government provides educational support in pursuit of reducing school exclusions and improves outcomes. Notably, the government engages in diverting children and youths away from toxic environment into positive nurturing environments to meet basic needs, stopping the stigmatization of young people by listening to their grievances, working with communities and families to support, rehabilitate and educate young people and creating training and employment opportunities to improve youths opportunities to secure employment and building professional relationships.

The severity of Knife crime punishment

According to Vulliamy (2018, np), knife crime sentences are becoming more robust as the average prison tenure for the jailed people carrying knives and other offensive weapons has increased from about five to eight months in the UK. 85% of the aforementioned bracket serves three months minimally relative to 53% only a decade ago. In Wales and England, the minimum custodial sentences for people aged 16 and above caught with a knife get convicted of using threatening other people using a knife, and the victim is at immediate risk of severe physical harm (Owen, 2019, np). Additionally, people above 16 years get convicted of possessing a knife while in school premises or on a public place, and they have a relevant conviction of threatening the public with a weapon or owning a gun. Also, in knife crime cases, the offenders aged 18 years and above would be sentenced to a minimum period of six months custodial sentence and a maximum of 4 years. For the people aged 16 or 17years, the minimum penalty is a training order and detention of at least four months. In Northern Ireland, the maximum and minimum custodial sentences are similar. However, in these cases, judges have a choice to decline the imposition of the minimum sentence if they believe it is unjust.

The punishment is not as severe as the consequences of knife crime outweigh the imprisonment punishment for offenders. Rationally, imprisoning a knife crime offender, for instance, who stabs a person to death for three months, is unfair. Worth noting, the offender may not have reformed within the three months; hence, releasing him or her from the prison may be a life-threatening opportunity to the public.

Personal opinion

Knife crime is an area of concern in the UK as the consequences are severe compared with the preventive measures policies put in place. Knife crime claims several lives while others are left disabled; hence, it proves to be a burden economically to the families of the victims and the UK government. Therefore, i would advocate for severe punishment for knife crime cases, for instance, more extended imprisonment periods ranging from 10 years and above. Also, the government can launch vocational training on knife crime, which will help in earlier detection of gangs and also educate the youths on the consequences of knife crime.

References

Menichelli, F., 2019. Governing through vulnerability in austerity England. European Journal of Criminology, p.1477370819880154.

Mumtaz, S., Visaria-Shah, N. and Komath, D., 2019. Knife crimes and facial injuries. British dental journal, 226(10), p.717.

O'Hagan, A. and Long, A., 2019. The socioeconomic effects of organised crimes county lines on the United Kingdom community. Forensic Research and Criminology International Journal, 7(5), pp.274-280.

Owen, M., 2019. Exploring Designated Safeguarding Leads' experiences of working with children and young people associated with knife crime: An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (Doctoral dissertation, University of Essex & Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust).

Palasinski, M., Brown, W., Shortland, N., Riggs, D.W., Chen, M. and Bowman-Grieve, L., 2019. Masculinity, injury, and death: implications for anti-knife-carrying messages. Journal of interpersonal violence, p.0886260518822341.

Peters, E., 2019. Music: Punishment, Persecution, Pacification, and Patriarchy. The Use and Abuse of Music: Criminal Records (Emerald Studies in Alternativity and Marginalization), pp.85-101.

Ruth, P., Thompson, C. and Sara, P., 2019. We need a renewed focus on primary prevention to tackle youth knife violence in the longer term. BMJ, 365, p.l1769.

Vulliamy, P., Faulkner, M., Kirkwood, G., West, A., O’Neill, B., Griffiths, M.P., Moore, F. and Brohi, K., 2018. Temporal and geographic patterns of stab injuries in young people: a retrospective cohort study from a UK major trauma centre. BMJ open, 8(10), p.e023114.