The Prime Minister has announced measures aimed at getting knives off the streets and reducing knife-related crime.
After meetings in Downing Street on June 5, Gordon Brown said that anyone over the age of 16 caught in possession of a knife can expect to be prosecuted on the first offence rather than cautioned.<br><br>The PM said: "We have to send out a message and reinforce it with immediate action. It is completely unacceptable to carry a knife. Young people need to understand that carrying knives doesn’t protect you, it does the opposite – it increases the danger for all of us, destroys young lives and ruins families. Recent tragic events have reminded us of that. I am pleased to see the Police and the Courts working with us to tackle this and make the streets safe in all our communities."<br><br>Those under 16 who commit offences without aggravating factors can still expect to receive a caution coupled with referral to a knife education scheme to help them understand the dangers and consequences of carrying knives. Their parents will also be notified and may receive parenting orders to ensure they play their part in changing their child’s behaviour.<br><br>The Number 10 summit held on June 5 was attended by Ken Jones, President of the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO), and Ken Macdonald, the Director of Public Prosecutions. Before the meeting the PM spoke with young people inside 10 Downing Street, some of whom have been victims of knife and gun crime.<br><br>On the new measures, Home Secretary Jacqui Smith said: "I am serious about getting knives off our streets.  We have doubled the maximum sentence for carrying a knife to four years, launched a new national £3 million advertising campaign to challenge the fear, glamour or peer pressure that can drive young people to knife crime, increased the use of stop and search by police, improved witness anonymity and extended knife referral schemes so that young people convicted of carrying a knife receive education on the dangers and risks.<br><br>"Those who carry a knife on our streets need to know that they will be caught and should expect to end up in court. They will face tough consequences."<br><br>However for the Tories, David Davis accused Mr Brown of having "run out of ideas" on knife crime. The Shadow Home Secretary highlighted what he termed Mr Brown’s "appalling record" on prosecuting knife offenders, claiming:<br><br>- One in four offenders is let off with a warning or caution<br><br>- Fewer than one in seven receives a prison sentence<br><br>- Those that do serve an average jail sentence of just a month, thanks to Labour’s early release scheme<br><br>David Davis attacked Mr Brown’s latest statement on the problem of knife crime, saying: "Extending a failing system may make for a nice announcement but it won’t fix the problem in the short term nor address the fundamental causes of violent crime."<br><br>And for the Liberal Democrats, their leader, Nick Clegg said: "It is right to prosecute young people caught with knives as the current culture is leading to injury and death on a worrying scale. There can be absolutely no justification for carrying knives at any age. <br><br>"But the Government must work harder to reassure youngsters so that they do not feel the need to carry weapons to defend themselves. We need more visible policing, intelligence-led stop and search and wider use of metal detecting arches. Police must also go into schools to make sure children are fully aware of the dangers that carrying a knife brings.<br><br>"Gordon Brown should scrap ID cards and spend the money on extra police to patrol our street. The Government should set up Community Courts around the country so that young offenders are forced to face their victims and make amends for what theyโve done."
Separately, at the GMB union the new equality and diversity officer called for a challenge to knife crime culture. Kamaljeet Jandu, the newly appointed GMB national diversity and equalities officer spoke to his first report to GMB Congress this morning. As part of his report he said: โThere is the debate about gun and knife crime, which impacts on GMB members as parents, workers and members of their local communities. I would advocate that it is time to engage in a discussion about this issue. What with drugs, guns and knives there is a free market in death on the streets of London and our other major cities.
"In the long run it is about challenging the popular youth culture that sustains and supports the carrying of knifes. Music, fashion and computer games. In the short term the enforcement agencies, through intelligence led and in specific areas, need to search and disarm youth while guarding against wholesale criminalisation of any particular community.โ
And responding to comments made by the Prime Minister, ACPO President Ken Jones said:
โRecently a worrying trend has emerged in relation to knife crime. We are seeing both an intensification in the severity of offending, and a worrying change in the age profile of offenders and victims, which has decreased from mid-late teens to early 20s down to early-to-mid-teens.
โPatrolling officers will continue to apply common sense in their approach to any relevant incident, strongly enforcing the law against this trend. We are seeing year on year increases in convictions for simple possessions and use of knives in crime, and the deployment of innovative tactics designed to detect and suppress the carrying of knives. We are also reaching out to neighbourhoods, parents, schools and other agencies to join with us in taking on this critical issue.
โThe Prime Minister has said that he supports a presumption to prosecute those carrying knives, extended to include 16 year olds. Currently those under 18 can face the possibility of prosecution for possession of a knife where aggravating factors are present. Such a change would remove the options of warning or reprimand in all cases.
โACPO has been at the forefront of a strengthened approach to enforcement and sentencing and has been working with the Crown Prosecution Service to draw up new guidance for all police forces. We need to send out a signal to those who carry knives for no good reason, that they can expect the police service to do its best to get them before a court.โ
