Reduction Of Knife Crime In

Introduction

Crimes are a serious problem affecting our society in the modern day. The lives of the ordinary law-abiding citizens amongst the society are affected badly due to an increase of crimes being committed by the criminals. Of all the types of crimes being committed by criminals, one of the most serious forms of crime and most common in the modern day are knife crimes. Knife crimes are generally used to refer to the crimes committed with the use of a knife or a bladed article by criminals. This involves either murdering, stabbing an individual or threatening them to hand over their belongings with the fear of murder or intent to wound. London is one of the places which seems to have a significantly increasing rate of knife crime activities in the present times. The project related to the reduction of the knife crime in London will mainly focus on the various ways in which the project will tackle the problems of knife crimes in the city and the various policing measures it would take aiming to reduce the knife crime in the capital city. It will also communicate to the community about the importance of the reduction of knife crimes here in the United Kingdom.

The aims and objectives of the initiative

As mentioned previously before, it can be said that knife crimes are one of the most serious forms of crime to be committed in the city of London. Hence, the Knife Crime Reduction Initiative has to have certain aims and objectives using which it will be able to address this severe issue affecting the people of UK (Brunton et al,. 2016). In this case, the aim of the initiative would be to take strategies and steps so that the problems of the knife crime can be reduced in the country.

In the similar way, the objective of the initiative would include the following points which needs to be taken care of by the organisers of the initiative. These points are as follows:

• To understand the various reasons behind the increase of the crimes involving the use of the knife in London.
• To fine the suitable strategies and the ways which can be used by the organisers of the initiative to make sure that the knife crime is reduced in London.
• To make the stakeholders interested in the participation and supporting the initiative of reducing the knife crimes in London.
• To communicate to the community about the importance of the reduction of the knife crime and get them to join the initiative by the organisers (Wilkinson, 2019).

All of these aims and objectives of the initiative of the Knife crime reduction will help the researchers to understand the various staged and steps needed to be taken to make sure that they are able to reduce the problems of the knife crimes, which are affecting the lives of the adults and the children in London (Thornton, 2019).

The extent of the problems of knife crime

Knife crimes are a serious issue we suffer from here in the United Kingdom. It is mainly considered to be the crimes which are committed with the help of knives and any other bladed article. The most common forms of knife crimes include murdering or stabbing an individual or blackmailing and threatening individual with fear of murder so that they give up their belongings to the criminals (Wilburn 2015). The criminals in turn get more encouraged to continue such crimes since they believe that they would be able to commit anything with the help of knives by threatening the common people of the country. This gives them a confidence boost and almost makes these perpetrators feel invincible.

Knife crimes are a very common and serious issue in the United Kingdom. In the last four years, almost all major towns and cities of the UK have fell victims from the problems of the knife based crimes (Middleton et al,. 2018). In fact, it can be said that the countries of England and Wales are the most affected by the problems of knife crimes. In an estimate, it has been found that the total number of knife crimes in the UK had hit an all-time high in March 2019, with an 8% increase in the crimes as compared to the year 2018. It can also be said that knife crimes increased in the country with a total number of 3301 in the year 2017/18, which is second to the year 2011. London recorded the highest rate of knife crime as there was a recorded 169 offences involving a knife per 100,000 of the population in 2018/19, a slight increase on a rate of 167 in 2017/18. London is obviously the largest city in the United Kingdom, meaning it has a high contribution to the crime statistics recorded in the United Kingdom In most of the cases, it can be seen that the perpetrators of knife crimes are mostly considered to be children and teenagers, for whom it is pretty much easier to commit crimes with the help of a knife. In addition to this, the main class of children and teenagers who are known to commit such kinds of crimes are said to be coming from the lower classes of society, who do not have enough money to run their families. Therefore, these groups of the youth have no other option but to resort to the committing of various kinds of crimes, especially starting with the use of a knife. This use of the knife motivates them to continue committing various kinds of crimes and therefore, they ultimately grow up into criminals of the society (Muncie, 2018).

The knife crimes committed by the criminals are gradually increasing every year as stated by the various authorities of the country. This point can be supported by the fact that there have been more deaths in the country as it is evidenced by the spate of brutal street murders in the year 2018 which led to the death of a larger number of citizens of the city including women and children in the city. In addition to this, there have been reports of other incidents of knife crimes in London and other countries of United Kingdom, which have not been reported to the authorities (Nichols, 2018). All of these previously mentioned points are enough to suggest the fact that the problems of knife crime in the capital have been increasing and that serious steps should be taken by the authorities to make sure that they are able to bring the problems under control otherwise, it can lead to serious problems for the reputation of the capital city, if the issue of the knife crimes goes unchecked by the authorities (Muncie, 2018).

Engaging stakeholders and assessing their suitability

In order to launch an effective campaign to try and bring the problems of knife crime under control; it is essential to get suitable stakeholders in the process. The main reason for this is that the stakeholders can play a key role in this initiative. The stakeholders, by being present in the Knife crime reduction issue, can help motivate the audiences and the participants to protest all kinds of crimes in the city including the knife crimes (Holligan, 2015).

In order to ensure the presence of the stakeholders in the initiative, it is first to select the kinds of the stakeholders for the event. In this case the main kinds of stakeholders who will be essential will be various government agents and the people who deal with the investigations of the crime related to the use of knives. In addition to this, the people dealing with various kinds of criminal cells can also be the stakeholders of the initiative. In addition to this, it can also be said that the people working in various NGO’s in the country can also be added as stakeholders in this initiative (Thornton, 2019). At the same time, the suitability of the stakeholders of the initiative can be assessed judging on the levels of interest they show in the initiative.

In this case the government officials dealing with the events of knife crimes will be suitable for the initiative because they would be able to persuade the audience and the participators on the importance of reducing the crimes in the city. They can also promise the audience and the participators of all kinds of help which will keep them safe and protected from crime. Members of the criminal cells as investigators can help the audience and the participators to understand the various ways in which they can keep themselves protected from the crimes committed against them by the criminals themselves (Muncie, 2018).

In addition to this, the NGO’s which deal with the issues relating to the crimes can also be used in this matter. These NGO’s will be essential as they will be able to help those who are not comfortable with getting help from the government agencies. In addition to this, these NGO’s can also help the audiences and the participators to understand the various kinds of steps which they should take in case they come across any incidents of knife crime being committed by criminals. It is believed that having various stakeholders like this will be helpful to the initiative as it will attract the attention of the audience into controlling the serious issue of knife crimes in the 21st century of the London city (Lugo et al,. 2018).

Policing and Crime Reduction Initiative to reduce the knife crime problem effectively

Regarding the increasing rate of knife crime which has been taking place in London, it can be said that policing can be one of the ways which can be used by the organisers of the initiatives that the crime rate remains controlled in the city. Policing will also be helpful in dealing with the increased rate of crimes happening in the country itself. The concept of the policing is considered to be important in this case because it will not only protect the citizens of the city from various kinds of problems but will also help them by suggesting how they would be able to reduce the amount of crimes committed by the criminals within the city. There are several policing measures which can be taken by the organisers of the initiatives to make sure that the rate of the knife crimes in the city will be described in the following paragraphs of the report (Muncie,2018).

One of the ways in which the policing initiatives can be made by the organisers of the initiative to reduce the knife crime in London can include the announcement of various benefits and punishments for the children and the teenagers belonging to the lower classes of the society. What this means is the fact that the initiatives can provide several rules and regulations which these children and teenagers need to follow which would involve not being allowed to use knives and other sharp objects until a certain age. In addition to this, they should be in their houses by a certain time at night and should not be roaming the streets at night. Failing to abide by these rules and regulations without some sort of valid reason such as anything that is benefitting to the individual at that given moment will result in these children being arrested and punished for not abiding by the laws and regulations (Thoernton,2019). In this case, it can be said that since the children and the teenagers are young, they will fear the various kinds of punishments which will be inflicted on them by the authorities. This will help the initiators to keep the rate of crime in control in the city itself.

Like the policing, various initiatives can be taken by the authorities to ensure that the problems of crime are being tackled. One of the steps which can be taken by the initiators to ensure that the crime level is reduced in the city can be by providing benefits like free education and jobs to the children and the teenagers in the city and the country. This means that the organisers of the initiative, in association with the government officials can introduce free education and more job opportunities for the children and the teenagers from the lower classes of the society (Holliganm, 2019). In this case, it can be said that if the youth feel that the government is making measures for them and working for their benefits, then they will be motivated to attend these schools for the free education and more job opportunities to better themselves and brighten their future. Therefore, it can be said that if the organisers of the initiatives and the Government can work together, then it will be useful as the rates of the crime in the city will be reduced by the efforts of the organisers of the initiative. Consequently, the issues relating to the knife crimes will be lost from the city and the UK.

In any kind of initiative, the process of communication to the community can be a difficult procedure for the organisers of the initiative. In this case, which involves the reduction of the knife crimes in the city of London, it can be by the use of the social medias channels to persuade the audience to join this initiative so that the lives of the children can be made better in the future. In addition to this, sending representatives from the initiative team to the crime affected areas within the city, where they can make the people aware about the various issues related to the knife crime and how these are affecting the lives of their children. These representatives should be able to convince the people of these areas so that they would be motivated in joining the initiative. In addition to this, it can also be said that if the people of the lower class of society feel interested in the initiative, they would be willing to participate in this movement. If they do, then it can lead to the reduction of the level of the knife crime from the city of London and maybe even the rest of the United Kingdom as we are aware the influences the capital city has on the rest of the country (Muncie, 2018).

Conclusion

From the discussion, it can be concluded that crimes are indeed one of the serious issues which the society has been facing. As seen previously of the report, it can be said that the other societies of UK have also been suffering from the same kinds of problems and not just London. The main reason for such kinds of problems are found to be the lack of jobs and education for the children and the teenagers belonging to the lower classes of the capital city. In this case, it can be said that the initiative taken by the organisers would be helpful to the society because it would help understand the various techniques which can be undertaken to ensure that the level of crimes are reduced in the city itself. The stakeholders in the form of the government authorities and the various NGO’s can also help the organisers of the initiative to achieve their objectives for which they had started this initiative in mind. All these policies and reasons can play an important part in the reduction of the levels of knife crime in the city of London and the rest of the UK.

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