located: | United Kingdom |
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editor: | Shira Jeczmien |
Over the last three consecutive years, knife crime has surged across the U.K., with London alone accounting for one in ten offences. Between March 2016 and 2017, over 12,000 offences were recorded across the capital, with the city’s youth at the greatest risk. Analysis of Metropolitan Police crime data for that same period of time showed that 75 percent of victims of knife crime are male and frequently less than 25 years old.
“We must not submit to a counsel of despair that some of our most troubled young people are beyond help. We will not give up on them.” Mayor Sadiq Khan wrote in last year’s knife crime Strategy document. Continuing that “We will expand our work to reach out to those caught up in crime and give them the skills, the resources and the confidence to get out.”
There are many speculative reasons behind the rise in violent crime rates in London and across the country, with police underfunding being a dominant concern. Between 2012 and 2013, the Met police funding was cut by £600 million, and is currently expected to reduce a further £400 million by 2020 to 2021. Of course we cannot rely on the police nor any statutory services alone to reduce violent crime rates; as Khan outlines, this is the responsibility of “communities, families, faith groups, the media and cultural sectors; we all have a responsibility to encourage young people to fulfil their potential and not to carry and use weapons.”
Under the leadership of Khan, a call to tackle the root cause of the violence surge is high on the agenda. This year has seen a reallocation of funding to grassroots organisations aiming to support London’s youth and help steer those likely to become involved in knife crime away from its path and into a new direction. In February, £45 million was allocation to the founding of Young Londoners Fund, a new organisation that sets to help young people access opportunities through educational and creative programmes and career development. In November last year Khan brought together youth influencers in the widely shared campaign London Needs You Alive. £7 million has been granted to projects that work to combat youth violence across London and a further £1.4 million to 43 community groups and grassroots initiatives that have sprouted as a result of surging youth violence rates. From boxing and martial arts clubs to mentoring workshops, the variety of programmes awarded funding is an indicator that Khan and his administration are determined to learn how to tackle knife crime from the communities it most affects.
Yet among the impressive plethora of tactics to fight knife crime and youth violence in London, what is worrying is the Metropolitan police’s recent introduction of targeted patrols with extra stop and search powers for the worst-affected areas. In the words of Khan, “No one person or organisation has all the answers to knife crime, and we embarked on producing this strategy with a clear ambition to involve as many organisations, groups, communities and individuals as possible.” As London’s murder rate was recently inaccurately labelled higher than New York City’s, it’s important a mirror tactic of over policing doesn’t overpower the essential role grassroots organisations, youth funds and creative campaigns have in tackling this recent pattern of violence.