KNIFE CRIME AND ITS IMPACT

ISSUE 6                                                                   BY SHAAN JASSAL

Over the past year, at least 37 people have been fatally stabbed - and 62 overall killed - in London. 

In London, the problem was even more pronounced than the rest of the country, with 12,980 knife crimes taking place in the capital - 2,452 more than the equivalent year.

It is clear that knife crime is becoming an increased problem, and more people are announced dead on the news every day. These deaths massively affect everyone in contact of that person, but they also affect London as a whole. These recurrences are creating massive amounts of fear in our community, some even scared to leave their own house.

So why go to so much length to create this fear, and why are these numbers increasing?

Well, there are obviously many factors that come into the answer of why these knife crimes occur, such as retaliation, money, hate, anger etc. 

But what is the Government going to do about it? They claim that they are working with the police, retailers and voluntary sector groups to tackle knife crime and are working with the National Crime Agency to address the changing nature of gangs. However, I believe that the Government should focus on education, and raising awareness about the concequences of these events. Everybody is praying that these tactics work and that knife crime decreases.

By Shaan Jassal, William Perkin CofE High School