38 people stabbed in London on New Year's eve

[Taz]

I've been listening to my local radio station (LBC) and one of the main news story was that 38 people were stabbed in London on New Year's eve. The London ambulance service reported these spate of stabbings as the worst on record.

So, what should be done about knife crime? I think that there is absolutely no legitimate reason to carry a knife. You're not allowed to carry guns or bombs, so why allow knives?

I think a minimum 6-month prison term and a £2,000 fine for carrying a knife should be a good deterrent.

[demonwolf]

Knife crime makes knife crime escalate. Some poeple on hearing that startling news might decide they now need to carry a knife for protection. I dont agree with that view, and would not carry weapons myself.
I do agree with your deterent but not sure how effective it would be without giving the police the go ahead to start stop and searching anyone they like. Would most people feel comfortable living in such a city where everyone is stopped and searched.
Other problems that would arise is accusations, justified or not, of racism if the police even hinted at targeting certain groups or it looked like they were targeted groups.
I thnk it basically comes down to effectively identifying who is carrying knives and arresting those people.
From the little experience i have had, people who are willing to carry knives to harm other people or simply for the excuse of their own protection are not too concerned about getting caught nor think about the consequences no matter how strong the deterrent.

[RedPutty]

I thought it already was.
Doesnt stop criminals for some strange reason

[IBM]

Coming from a minority group as I do (white, male mid 20s ) I can see how people would be upset if their racial group is being targetted, but if 80% of the stabbings are being carried out by people of African or Jamaican descent (as with the statistic, I have no actual source as a basis for my hypothetical situation, just trying to make a point) then it would make sense to target those particular groups. It just doesn't make sense to me that the police should have to apologise to particular groups for targetting them if elements with those groups are causing the problem in the first place.

I would apologise to the people that are innocent and being greatly inconvenienced (and the police should be making every effort to be considerate professional with all people they search to minimise embarresment), but I think the people who should be apologising are the people that are carrying the knives in the first place.

Of course there are wider social/environmental/educational issues at stake here. The parents are to blame. Society is to blame. The education system is to blame. TV is to blame. I'm to blame and so are you. But you know who is most to blame, the fool who thinks that carrying a knife is a good thing to do. Trouble is that no way is the government going to fork out for the kind of police presence that would be required to carry out all the searches...I'm pretty sure that just having that kind of police presence on the street would be a sufficient deterant to put most people off carrying a blade, just look at NY.

[specofdust]

Is this a big deal to people? 38 people, in a city of 5 million, with probably closer to 6 or 7 counting the many people who'd have gone from the surrounding 100 miles or so for hogmanay, 38 doesn't strike me as a bad number at all, in fact it seems pretty low to me.

I think that there is absolutely no legitimate reason to carry a knife.

That's because your a city boy who's probably spent his whole life in a city too, if you don't realise a knifes a usefull tool. Growing up in the country, around lots of farms, many boys carry knives, not for knifing people, but just because they're usefull for all sorts of things one would do when living in the country, ever tried going camping for 3 days without a knife? Camping properly that is, its not easy, lemme tell you.

God londoners piss me off with their shortsightedness.......

Btw Pyle, pepper spray of a certain strength isn't illegal in this country IIRC, mace is, but thats uber-powerfull. You can carry offensive sprays of a certain strength though, I'm just not sure if they'd actually be powerfull enough to do anything.

[Twigman]

Air Taser tbh...

You grab your electronic AIR TASERtm and as the intruder approaches you hit him with the full 100,000 volts. He lurches forward, falls to the floor and convulses. You call the police. They still arrest you, but your lawyer has the charges dropped. The intruder attempts to sue you, but has less chance of collecting damages as he is only mildly injured. You contact the AIR TASERtm company and they send you a new unit free of charge for the next confrontation.

Just because the picture makes it look so damn cool!

[specofdust]

That thing would sell so much more if it were the two rough dudes tazering the executive looking women

[demonwolf]

specofdust I think what he meant in gereral that there is no legitimate reason to carry a knife in the city. You are right in certain places there is a very good reason to carry a knife. I work in a part time job in which I need my own set of knives and machetes. Once or twice Ive had to carry them from or to work, if I was stopped and searched Im sure I could have given sufficient proof of the reason I carried them. I digress, but the point is, a farmer strolling around with his knife in his hand or a camper using his knife to help put up his tent is not the same as a 15 year old kid with a knife in his school bag. Nor the same as a man enjoying a night out in the city centre with a knife concealed on him.

I think any one person stabbed is one person too many. Its a sad day when we can have any number of murders that is deemed 'acceptable'. I for one would not like to be the person to have to tell the families of the murdered that the loss of their loved one was statistically predicted in a city of this size.

[TheAnimus]

A simple idea would be to ban people who have certain types of conviction from been allowed to own a lot of knifes, or carry them. But whilst that might help curtail the fassion of knifes, fundamentally even a 3inch paring knife is more than enough to kill someone.

[specofdust]

specofdust I think what he meant in gereral that there is no legitimate reason to carry a knife in the city. You are right in certain places there is a very good reason to carry a knife. I work in a part time job in which i need my own set of knifes and machetes. Once or twice Ive had to carry them from or to work, if I was stopped and searched Im sure I could have given sufficient proof of the reason I carried them. I digress, but the point is, a farmer strolling around with his knife in his hand or a camper using his knife to help put up his tent is not the same as a 15 year old kid with a knife in his school bag. Nor the same as a man enjoying a night out in the city centre with a knife concealed on him.

I think any one person stabbed is one person too many. Its a sad day when we can have any number of murders that is deemed 'acceptable'. I for one would not like to be the person to have to tell the families of the murdered that the loss of their loved one was statistically predicted in a city of this size.

Yeah, I agree with what you mean, sorry for getting arsey there Taz, but the statement I quoted set me off abit.

[Taz]

No probs. This forum is intended to provoke debate! It would be pretty boring if everybody agreed with my point of view.

I still maintain that a group of youths walking down a High Street on a Saturday night armed with knives should be thoroughly illegal and demand custodial sentences.

Of course, someone living in a tent needs a knife. A chef needs a knife, etc. However, these people don't usually fit the profile of a yob! The police have the powers as of January 01 to arrest someone for believing that they are committing a crime. They should use these powers to arrest yobs and search them.

[badass]

I still maintain that a group of youths walking down a High Street on a Saturday night armed with knives should be thoroughly illegal and demand custodial sentences.

It is illegal however rarely attracts a custodial sentence.

[Rave]

If knife crime is on the rise, then I think the police should adopt a high profile 'brute force' approach to tackle it, rather than more targetted stop-and-search, which I reckon is divisive. They should just surround a town or city centre where knife crime is a problem on a Saturday night, and search absolutely everyone who comes or goes. Anyone with a knife they have no reason to be carrying gets done. It's simple, it's fair, and when it gets into the news it may deter others from going out carrying.

[autopilot]

TBH, it's just reason 8,349 why i would never live in London, or any other major city.

[bertie]

Pretty meaningless figure - were they all unprovoked, unplanned, spontaneous attacks?
Yeah if you go out you might get killed, same goes anywhere.
You might also win the lottery.
If you want to stay in or don't want to live in London, stay in or don't live in London!

I'm fairly sure if you're found with a knife you will be taken into custody.
Can't really go round checking everyone to see if they have a knife though, if someone wants to stab or physically hurt someone, they will, and there's not much you can do about it.