Gosh, don't you feel safe and secure walking the streets of London now? Which by the way, was recently rated the most violent city in the most violent country in Europe?
From UK Telegraph:
[A]lmost 60 people are stabbed or mugged at knife-point every day.
A quarter-by-quarter breakdown suggests that the offending has accelerated over the course of the year, fuelling fears that the problem is getting worse.
Opposition politicians described the tally as "shocking" and last night demanded action from ministers.
Six people died in knife attacks in a 24-hour period last week, leading to an unprecedented statement from Scotland Yard aimed at reassuring the public.
Among the victims was Melvin Bryan, an 18-year-old who became the 42nd teenager killed in Britain this year and the 20th in London.
Gordon Brown called Sir Ian Blair, the Metropolitan Police Commissioner, to Chequers yesterday, for urgent talks. The Prime Minister urged the Scotland Yard chief to make full use of new police powers to make pubs and clubs search customers for knives and guns.
On Tuesday, Jacqui Smith, the Home Secretary, will publish her Youth Crime Action Plan. It includes a proposal to make young offenders visit casualty wards to examine knife wounds in an attempt to shock them into mending their ways. Two days later, she will unveil the police figures on knife crime.
The Sunday Telegraph has obtained data from 33 of the 43 forces in England and Wales, covering more than four-fifths of the population. The figures show that 20,803 serious knife crimes were recorded in the year to March, or 56 per day.
Allowing for forces that did not provide figures, the nationwide total is expected to be about 25,000. If Scotland and Northern Ireland attacks were included, it would be even higher.
The count includes only murders, stabbings where blood is spilt, and knife-point muggings. If less-serious crimes such as threats or illegal possession were included, the figures would be much higher.
Worst-affected were big urban areas – London, Manchester, the West Midlands, West Yorkshire and Merseyside.
Until now, police have counted crimes by the offence – such as assault, robbery or burglary – rather than by the weapon used. Annual totals have included about 100,000 robberies, 20,000 serious woundings and 800 murders. Among the serious knife crimes counted in the new measures, about half are robberies; the other half are murders, attempted murders and woundings.
Dominic Grieve, the shadow home secretary, said: “Most people will be shocked to find that knife crime has reached 20,000 cases a year. This illustrates the need to get police back on our streets by cutting the bureaucratic burden on them. There should be a presumption to imprison those caught with knives in excess of three inches in length without reasonable justification.”
The figures come as the parents of Jimmy Mizen, the 13th teenager to be killed in London this year, said in an interview with The Sunday Telegraph that they hoped the death of their son would become a catalyst to solve the problem of street violence.
Ms Smith’s plan will set out proposals for “knife referral projects” which will attempt to re-educate people convicted of carrying knives via hospital visits and meetings with victims and prison inmates. The £100 million package of measures, to be tried in eight areas, will also include “youth forums” and street-based youth workers to steer young people away from crime, and the extension of a scheme that removes children from the streets late at night. Councils will be urged to close under-age drinking dens and shops selling knives to children.
Young offenders handed community sentences will be told to turn up at inconvenient times, including Friday evenings and Saturdays, while parents could be made to attend court if their child is charged with an offence.
Ms Smith said: “I am absolutely shocked at the tragic and senseless loss of life we have seen recently. I want to reassure everyone that the Government is taking the issue of knife crime very seriously.”
But Harry Fletcher, the assistant general secretary of the National Association of Probation Officers, called the plan a “damp squib”.
Don't you just love living a peaceful, risk free life in the nanny state brought to you by the always caring liberals?
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