Knife crime soars by nearly 60% in London
Knife crime soars by nearly 60% in London
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s1962a

Original Poster:

6,528 posts

178 months

Wednesday 30th July
quotequote all
https://www.standard.co.uk/news/crime/met-police-k...

Honestly, this is the thing that really worries me for my kids and family. I have friends with teenage sons and they are always worried what might happen when their kids go out and get caught up in this violence. It's not just about teenagers though, knife crime/theft in London seems to be way out of control, and i've lived here all my life. I don't think it's ever been this bad from what I can see.

I do wonder if the police/mayor have just lost control of the situation. Like even if you had the army patrolling the streets, that probably wouldn't control it as they can't be everywhere.

article said:
Former Metropolitan Police Detective Chief Inspector David Spencer said: London is in the grip of a knife crime, robbery and theft epidemic.

swisstoni

20,141 posts

295 months

Wednesday 30th July
quotequote all
They don’t have to be everywhere, but they do have to be somewhere.
Police are now only usually seen when they are going somewhere else. Not on routine patrols which I presume have been knocked on the head as a waste of time.

But they aren’t a waste of time. Just the presence of police has a psychological affect. It says that this place is not lawless and you cannot get away with anything you want.

sugerbear

5,448 posts

174 months

Wednesday 30th July
quotequote all
“The Mayor ... has secured 935 police officers and he has worked closely with the Commissioner to increase the number of police officers on the beat in the West End, plus additional police officers working in new or enhanced town centre teams in hotspot areas.

It's an area where approx half a million people visit each day and it attracts criminals, always has and always will (Oxford St and surrounding area) and yet this story is about knife across London of approx 15k per annum. Across London, it's about 50 events per day across a city of 9million people.

I think some people need to get a grip. If you aren't involved in the drugs trade and/or make yourself an obvious target (expensive stuff tends to attract attention) then in all likelyhood you will never have to worry. By contract there were approx 25k per year sexual assaults last year in the previous years.






s1962a

Original Poster:

6,528 posts

178 months

Wednesday 30th July
quotequote all
sugerbear said:
I think some people need to get a grip. If you aren't involved in the drugs trade and/or make yourself an obvious target (expensive stuff tends to attract attention) then in all likelyhood you will never have to worry. By contract there were approx 25k per year sexual assaults last year in the previous years
Do you live in London and/or have kids that can go out on their own? If so, lets debate it. Otherwise you are talking out of your arse about having to "get a grip"

s1962a

Original Poster:

6,528 posts

178 months

Wednesday 30th July
quotequote all
swisstoni said:
They don t have to be everywhere, but they do have to be somewhere.
Police are now only usually seen when they are going somewhere else. Not on routine patrols which I presume have been knocked on the head as a waste of time.

But they aren t a waste of time. Just the presence of police has a psychological affect. It says that this place is not lawless and you cannot get away with anything you want.
Agree with that. Having visible patrols like the "bobby on beat" would do a lot to reassure people and hopefully deter this crime.

irc

8,947 posts

152 months

Wednesday 30th July
quotequote all
No surprise knife crime has increased when the mayor wanted the police to do fewer stop searches.

"The third major problem is to be found just down the river from New Scotland Yard – at City Hall. Sir Sadiq Khan has been Mayor of London for nine years – he is the effective Police and Crime Commissioner for London but the steps he has taken have hamstrung the police in their fight against crime. Prior to his election, Sir Sadiq reportedly said: ‘If I’m mayor I’ll do all in my power to further cut [stop and search’s] use.’ The Mayor got his way. Between March 2021 and March 2024, the number of searches fell by 56.4 per cent – that’s 175,613 fewer searches. Yet knife crime has increased dramatically "

https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/the-met-must-f...


oyster

13,193 posts

264 months

Wednesday 30th July
quotequote all
s1962a said:
sugerbear said:
I think some people need to get a grip. If you aren't involved in the drugs trade and/or make yourself an obvious target (expensive stuff tends to attract attention) then in all likelyhood you will never have to worry. By contract there were approx 25k per year sexual assaults last year in the previous years
Do you live in London and/or have kids that can go out on their own? If so, lets debate it. Otherwise you are talking out of your arse about having to "get a grip"
So can we debate on subjects we only have personal involvement in?

What about someone who lives outside London but commutes in?

Or a tourist about to visit?

What are the debating rules? Or is it just that people can’t disagree with you?

ATG

22,225 posts

288 months

Wednesday 30th July
quotequote all
s1962a said:
sugerbear said:
I think some people need to get a grip. If you aren't involved in the drugs trade and/or make yourself an obvious target (expensive stuff tends to attract attention) then in all likelyhood you will never have to worry. By contract there were approx 25k per year sexual assaults last year in the previous years
Do you live in London and/or have kids that can go out on their own? If so, lets debate it. Otherwise you are talking out of your arse about having to "get a grip"
"Get a grip" is a bit harsh, but unless your kids are involved with gangs, the risk is tiny.

Slow.Patrol

2,136 posts

30 months

Wednesday 30th July
quotequote all
ATG said:
"Get a grip" is a bit harsh, but unless your kids are involved with gangs, the risk is tiny.
Unless you have a nice wrist watch or have a smart phone in your hand.

Or a nice push bike.

Or anything else of value really.

jan8p

1,798 posts

244 months

Wednesday 30th July
quotequote all
Of course knife crime has increased, because nothing is done to tackle the actual problem.

All the authorities do is focus on using the ban hammer and spinning it as a panacea. Dare I say it, the issue isn't 'knife' crime, the issue is social violence. They will use whatever implement that is accessible.

Next up...banning anything pointy and we'll see if that works!

Don Roque

18,137 posts

175 months

Wednesday 30th July
quotequote all
swisstoni said:
They don t have to be everywhere, but they do have to be somewhere.
Police are now only usually seen when they are going somewhere else. Not on routine patrols which I presume have been knocked on the head as a waste of time.

But they aren t a waste of time. Just the presence of police has a psychological affect. It says that this place is not lawless and you cannot get away with anything you want.
They don't have the staff to drive or walk around looking for criminals to catch them 'in the act'. Speaking to my friends 'in the job', it is routine for 24/7 cops to come in on any shift to find a queue of 'unserviced' jobs waiting to have some deal with them. These are the officers that get the non-specialised 999 calls (so everything bar a firearms threat, major RTC or road traffic specific job or marine incident). Neighbourhood policing teams have 'queues' of their own to deal with and they're nothing to do with dealing with the immediate demand for ongoing incidents.

It sounds like a dreadful state of affairs but we get the piss-poor policing we pay for.

jan8p

1,798 posts

244 months

Wednesday 30th July
quotequote all
Don Roque said:
swisstoni said:
They don t have to be everywhere, but they do have to be somewhere.
Police are now only usually seen when they are going somewhere else. Not on routine patrols which I presume have been knocked on the head as a waste of time.

But they aren t a waste of time. Just the presence of police has a psychological affect. It says that this place is not lawless and you cannot get away with anything you want.
They don't have the staff to drive or walk around looking for criminals to catch them 'in the act'. Speaking to my friends 'in the job', it is routine for 24/7 cops to come in on any shift to find a queue of 'unserviced' jobs waiting to have some deal with them. These are the officers that get the non-specialised 999 calls (so everything bar a firearms threat, major RTC or road traffic specific job or marine incident). Neighbourhood policing teams have 'queues' of their own to deal with and they're nothing to do with dealing with the immediate demand for ongoing incidents.

It sounds like a dreadful state of affairs but we get the piss-poor policing we pay for.
Couple that with those same officers carrying 20+ open investigations from previous calls, so any downtime they do get, they must progress those investigations. There is no time to patrol.

Earthdweller

16,209 posts

142 months

Wednesday 30th July
quotequote all
sugerbear said:
The Mayor ... has secured 935 police officers and he has worked closely with the Commissioner to increase the number of police officers on the beat in the West End, plus additional police officers working in new or enhanced town centre teams in hotspot areas.

It's an area where approx half a million people visit each day and it attracts criminals, always has and always will (Oxford St and surrounding area) and yet this story is about knife across London of approx 15k per annum. Across London, it's about 50 events per day across a city of 9million people.

I think some people need to get a grip. If you aren't involved in the drugs trade and/or make yourself an obvious target (expensive stuff tends to attract attention) then in all likelyhood you will never have to worry. By contract there were approx 25k per year sexual assaults last year in the previous years.
You haven't a clue

ATG

22,225 posts

288 months

Wednesday 30th July
quotequote all
Slow.Patrol said:
ATG said:
"Get a grip" is a bit harsh, but unless your kids are involved with gangs, the risk is tiny.
Unless you have a nice wrist watch or have a smart phone in your hand.

Or a nice push bike.

Or anything else of value really.
Even then the risk remains tiny. Look at the numbers.

CoolHands

21,022 posts

211 months

Wednesday 30th July
quotequote all
ATG said:
"Get a grip" is a bit harsh, but unless your kids are involved with gangs, the risk is tiny.
That’s not actually true, I know a year 9 (aged 13-14) girl who a wayward boy threatened to ‘stab you up’. The level of uncertainty for parents in that situation is very high - these days he could well do it as there are in fact so many stabbings.

As with all things, no punishment and this is what you get.

sugerbear

5,448 posts

174 months

Wednesday 30th July
quotequote all
s1962a said:
sugerbear said:
I think some people need to get a grip. If you aren't involved in the drugs trade and/or make yourself an obvious target (expensive stuff tends to attract attention) then in all likelyhood you will never have to worry. By contract there were approx 25k per year sexual assaults last year in the previous years
Do you live in London and/or have kids that can go out on their own? If so, lets debate it. Otherwise you are talking out of your arse about having to "get a grip"
I was born in London. Lives and worked there for 40 years in one of the more crappier areas. I was mugged once when I was a teenager (no knife). I regularly go back there and have never had any issues. I have wandered the streets of Whitechapel / Aldgate and the west end into the early hours without a hint of an issue. Docklands / West London and so on.

Are you dressing your kids in designer cloths and expense watches? Are you giving them the £1000 phones and a wad of cash?

50 incidents per day in a pool of 9 million people.

Wills2

26,416 posts

191 months

Wednesday 30th July
quotequote all

It's the gardeners you've got to watch out for, one minute they're clipping their hedge at home the next...

fido

17,826 posts

271 months

Wednesday 30th July
quotequote all
.. and they associate with the wrong type of hoes!

119

12,724 posts

52 months

Wednesday 30th July
quotequote all
sugerbear said:
I was born in London. Lives and worked there for 40 years in one of the more crappier areas. I was mugged once when I was a teenager (no knife). I regularly go back there and have never had any issues. I have wandered the streets of Whitechapel / Aldgate and the west end into the early hours without a hint of an issue. Docklands / West London and so on.

Are you dressing your kids in designer cloths and expense watches? Are you giving them the £1000 phones and a wad of cash?

50 incidents per day in a pool of 9 million people.
I agree.











With Earthdweller.

valiant

12,428 posts

176 months

Wednesday 30th July
quotequote all
Now do the East Midlands or Greater Manchester.

How does knife crime per capita compare?