The title of this post links to a BBC story on a £3m government "pledge" to tackle knife crime in hotspots. Pledge is in quotation marks purely for the purpose that I assumed as government they would not need to pledge to do it, as they'd be tackling crime as a duty anyway.
The plan is another one from Home Secretary Jacqui Smith, with one of the plans being increased police presence. Now, it's all well and good having extra policing, but it's a case of time management, and there will be windows of opportunity for criminals to act in, no matter how much you call for "more bobbies on the beat".
Lancashire is one of the 10 areas designated a hotspot, for which an initial £2m was assigned between these 10 areas, and now a further £3m has been added to. So, for £500,000, Jacqui Smith believes she can significantly reduce knife crime in an area. Interesting.
Knife crime is currently rife in the UK and Lancashire. You just have to look at the Lancashire Evening Post and search "knife" and you'll find stories on armed robbery and GBH.
Worse than this was the recent story of pocket knives being found in coats sold by TK Maxx, a severe issue which was seemingly ignored as soon as they said they would withdraw stock.
The crackdown means well, and we should all hope it brings some success, but at the same time if someone is determined to cause harm with a knife, then it's more than likely going to happen. I am in no way saying we should give up vigilance, prevention and deterrence, but we should be realistic in that knife crime is not just going to go away.
Tuesday, 21 October 2008
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