Knife Crime in The United Kingdom - Case Study

Running head: KNIFE CRIME IN THE UK: A STUDY
KNIFE CRIME IN THE UK: A STUDY
Name of the student
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Author Note

1KNIFE CRIME IN THE UK: A STUDY
Introduction
In sociological terms, crime is often viewed as a deviant behavior in humans that strictly
violates the norms, cultural standards and social ethics that determine how humans are expected
to behave normally in a society. Crime is committed by individuals or groups who commit a
breach of rules and law for which the governing authorities or establishments can give penalties
or punishments. When a person commits crime, the result of the crime can lead to being
unenforced, rehabilitated or sometimes, executed in extreme cases. The particular paper talks in
details about “knife crime” that is prevalent in the United Kingdom, the reasons behind such
crimes, people who commit such crimes, target population, statistical data of the prevalence of
the crime and how such crimes are being tackled by the law and order department of the United
Kingdom. The paper is in the form of a descriptive and analytical essay.
Background
The United Kingdom is facing plethora of criminal activities and law and order issues in
the contemporary times and Britain, which is considered to be culturally developed state of the
UK has been facing the nuisance of knife crime across the country lately. The generic definition
of knife crime is that crime where someone is threatened with a knife by the perpetrator or
carrying a knife while robbing, molesting or carrying out burglary. Often, people who commit
knife crime physically harm the victim with the knife instead of showing the knife as a weapon
just to intimidate him/her. Certain knives have been deemed by the United Kingdom government
as offensive weapons and have been banned completely from the market. Availability of such
knives are difficult and might need a license. However, despite of such measures, knife crime
continues in the UK and is tremendously higher than what is expected. Since the year 2014, the

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UK society has seen a jump in knife crime. The areas of England and Whales have been marked
as the areas where knife crime has reached its peak. According to the report of ONS (Office for
National Statistics), the month of September in the year 2018 has witnessed a peak in the rise of
knife crime in the UK and especially, the areas of England and Whales. The number of crimes
and offenses that have been committed and accelerated with the usage of knives or sharp objects
went up to 8 per cent in the year 2019 than what was recorded in the year 2018 in the UK which
is not only alarming, but disturbing and a matter of concern at the same time. The metropolitan
city of London that happens to be Britain’s commercial and cultural capital is the core area of
knife crime in the UK. It would be shocking to realize that in the year 2018, the capital of
Britain, London saw a toll of 35 per cent of knife crime throughout the city. London is deemed to
be a city that welcomes all and has least xenophobia in her mind. London is also the commercial
capital of Great Britain and a plethora of immigrant workers from different countries seek refuge
in London to find employment opportunities and earn money. Therefore, such crimes are not
expected from such cities that are developed economically and socially from her peers. The
Metropolitan Police department of the city of London has been working relentlessly to curb the
growing menace of knife crime. The police department of London has seen an unprecedented
growth of knife crime in the city in the latest year. Dozens of families in London have been
ravished and injured by the knife crime offenders in London (Bbc.com. 2019).
Knife crime, in criminological terms, can be defined as an offense in order to commit
homicide, attempted murder, assault with an intention to create harm, injury, threat to kill along
with sexual offenses (rapes, gang rapes and molestation) and burglary. Knife is utilized to
commit such crimes as knife is a sharp object that is capable of injuring or killing humans easily.
Therefore, knife is used to intimidate, injure or kill the victim in order to complete the intention

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of the crime. The government of the United Kingdom has also kept a statute as knife possession
offense under which any general public of London does not have the discretion to carry an article
with or sharp point in public places such as schools, institutions and colleges, threatening with
blade or sharp object to anyone in any public place, possession of any offensive weapon,
utilizing anybody to look after such weapons and threatening anyone with such sharp weapons
for any intend (Edwards and Prins 2014).
Knife crime is generally committed in the UK that has relations with street violence and
robbery. According to the analysis carried out by the Metropolitan Police of London, most of the
knife crime offenders were male and half of them belonged to different ethnicities. It has also
been observed that 75 per cent of victims of knife crime are males who are shockingly aged
below 25 years. People from diversified ethnicities are also targeted for knife crime by the
perpetrators and offenders, as report says. The metropolitan cities of UK (including London)
have faced colossal cases of homicide or murder/ assassination. Almost half of the homicides
committed in the streets of England and London are result of fatal knife crimes. Some of the
knife crimes are also related to domestic abuse. Out of every three female victims of homicide,
one of them dies out of knife crime every year in London. A lot of people in the UK and its cities
are possessing and carrying knives or sharp objects with them. Such activities can be potentially
dangerous for the common public in the country. Majority of research conducted to understand
the reasons why such weapons were carried by some public in the cities ended up giving the
result of “self- defense” and “protection”. In spite of keeping weapons for safety purposes are
deemed to be right in today’s world where crime has become a part and parcel of life, it is not
statutorily correct at the same time. A thorough research utilizing psychological metrics has
depicted that carrying dangerous “knife like” weapons by the general public have different

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complicated reasons behind them. In many cases, knife or knives like objects are carried by the
people not only for protection but to threaten or intimidate others, to show power and status over
others or gain sexual advantages by intimidating their partners or victims.
In the cities and towns of the UK, gang violence is common and sometimes, such violence is
triggered by utilization of knives and knife- like weapons. Research has it that there is a greater
likelihood of carrying knives among the gang members who are mainly involved in anti- social
activities and crimes. Non gang members too carry weapon but there are high chances of gang
members to carry weapons. However, it would be interesting to know that majority of knife
crimes are not related to gang violence. Knife crimes are usually committed separately and alone
but if knife crime is committed through gang, it tends to be more violent and result in complete
dehumanization of the victim(s). Gang and group violence by utilization of knife are generally
linked with drug markets and few of them are linked with sexual violence, includes intimidating
the victims (women and men) and raping them, thereby, completely objectifying and
dehumanizing them, leaving the victims scarred, battered and often dead and it is alarmingly
disturbing.
Women and girls too are not away from being perpetrators and victims of knife crime in
the UK. Women and girls face violence through knife crime generally from the cases of domestic
harassment and abusive interpersonal relationships. Femicide reports in the UK show that
women are vulnerable towards being victimized with knife crime in abusive domestic
relationships often within their homes. Such reports show how marginalized the female sex is in
the hands of the perpetrators, who, more often than not, are men (of all ages, occupation or
relation). Domestic abuses in the UK go highly underreported which means that many news of
knife crime against women often go underreported (Bbc.com. 2019).

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The most heartbreaking is the usage of knife crime in order to exploit children sexually. Children
are vulnerable to the perpetrators or the criminals as they are young and immature. They are easy
targets to the predators and they get intimidated easily by looking at dangerous weapons such as
knives and remain at the mercy of the sexual offenders. Such attitudes are a big blot to the
humanity and need to be attended as quickly as possible.
Impact of Knife Crime
The impact of knife crime is multidimensional and multifaceted in nature. Knife crime
has an extreme impact on individuals and community alike. Knife crime is diabolical,
Mephistophelian and more often than not, fiendish. It has been considered as one of the worst
crimes that humanity can commit. Law and order is completely disrupted in such situations.
Knife crime results in death, loss of life and property and loss of integrity. It leaves a community
completely battered and bruised with loss of expectations from the governing bodies of the
society. In London, many racially diverse and ethic individuals have been subject to
victimization of knife crime which makes it impossible for interracial peaceful livelihood in the
city. With the rise in xenophobia, knife crime increases leading to threat to diversity aspects of
the UK. The fear of such crime can lead to a complete disruption of law and order and
peacekeeping in the English society. The legal and social consequences of convicts of knife
crime means four years of imprisonment and a person can get a criminal record only for carrying
a knife. Carrying a knife is a serious offense in the UK and carrying for self defense is no longer
taken into consideration by the society of the UK. Knife crime has devastating effect on the
physical, mental and cognitive functioning of the victims. The victims of knife crime end up in
hospitals for physical wounds and sometimes, psychologically crushed due to repeated episodes

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of intimidation and threat given to them by the convicts. Knife crime is a complex social
problem that needs to be dealt with observation, analysis, patience and perseverance.
Impact of knife crime on practice
Knife crime is a new form of emerging violence which has become a menace in the
society of the UK. The government of the United Kingdom has declared it to be a “national
emergency”. The social and community work institutions have been speculating to tackle the
problem with utmost urgency and care, the same way by which terrorism is tackled in the UK. In
spite of repeated funding of knife crime prevention work, it would not materialize because knife
crime is a societal problem and therefore, it would require multi- layered responses to address the
matter appropriately and accurately. Schools and colleges have begun educating the students
about the evils of knife crime. Schools and educational institutions have taken active measures to
eradicate such practices by providing racially neutral education and information regarding the
evil practices of racism. The most important factor that is lacking from the current argument
about knife crime is the holistic approach that community workers can take which would be
based on compassion, mindfulness and understanding for tackling such crimes
(Theconversation.com.2019). Different youth organizations have been providing the youngsters
mindfulness meditation training so that they develop anger management skills and come out of
psychological issues the convicts generally go through, such as Conduct Disorder which makes
them more violent than others leading to such crimes. Social workers have a very big part to play
in the process of curbing knife crime. The short- sighted approach of many governing bodies to
curb the knife crime issues has been fundamentally flawed, inept, incapable and damaging
(Theguardian.com. 2019). Such approaches make the situation worse than ever. The community
workers always have to remember that the victim and perpetrator of knife crime, both are the

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products of the environment and the society. Youth nowadays are getting rejected by education
system and placed in part-time education alternative. Such actions isolate and ostracize them,
leaving them vulnerable to various forms of exploitation. Many social institutions have started
identifying such children who go ashtray and made active efforts to rehabilitate them in terms of
their academic and life areas. Media has played a big role in providing negative stereotypes of
racially different people in the society of the UK. With Brexit, racial and social tension has
increased, leaving the interracial people most vulnerable on the streets of the UK. Many social
filmmakers have made active efforts to make educational films that teach people about the
menaces of such crime. Beginning from educating the public and making provisions for such
crimes in the parliament, social and community practice workers have been going separately to
every household to talk directly with families about the issue explicitly. However, schools of the
UK are sometimes given “extra responsibility” to take care of the issues of knife crime. Such
actions might deviate the school from its smooth academic functioning.
Current social policies and strategies
Macro level policy reforms of knife crime in the UK
Knife Crime Prevention Orders is a macro level social policy reform that is forwarded
by the UK government to curb the growing menaces of knife crime in the nation. The KCPO has
been introduced as an additional reform tool that the police departments all over the UK would
be able to use to work with youth population and adults to encourage them to help themselves
away from knife crime and serious violence. KCPO would generally work by helping the people
to divert from carrying knives, or the people who have greater risk of being drawn into a serious
violence away from being involved in knife crime. The KCPO would also ensure prevention of

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those who have been involved in knife crime from further offending by using the clauses and
policies of conviction and rehabilitation. The guidance of KCPO is primarily made to be utilized
by the police and Crown Prosecution Service but also provides special interest to the judiciary
and criminal justice system practitioners. Offensive Weapons Act (UK) is a part of macro level
policy reform and a new legislation that has paved the way to Knife Crime Prevention Orders
in the nation of the UK. In the year 2019, the Offensive Weapons Act received Royal Assent in
the parliament of the UK to curb the growing menace of violent crimes triggered by dangerous
weapons such as knives or any sharp objects. The Act has made it statutorily illegal to keep
dangerous weapons by any individual in private, such as zombie knives and death star knives.
The Act has made the action of selling bladed products online without verification of the age of
the buyer a criminal offense (Theguardian.com.uk.2019).
Other policies
As London is the city where most of the knife crime cases happen in the UK, the
Metropolitan Police Department of the city has taken up a “multi agency partnership
approach” strategy to tackle such crime. In the year 2009, Lewisham Young Victim’s Multi-
Agency Risk Assessment Conference was held in order to educate and increase the confidence of
youth towards the key agencies that work to curb knife crime. The respective project taken up by
London government provides multi- agency information sharing and action plan in order to
protect young people from the risk of knife crime. The project has premium supportive and
protective measures for the young victims. The conference has emerged as a Serious Youth
Crime Prevention Panel (SYCPP) and Missing Exploited and Trafficked (MET) processes. The
London Crime Prevention Fund has provided a platform for the Mayor of London to donate 72
million pounds for the police and crime plan period to support and assist projects all across

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London which would work to prevent crime, such as youth crime, gang violence and knife crime.
The London Crime Prevention Fund sees to it that every citizen of the city and country who
resides in London gets access to the resources and help that will keep them safe from knife crime
that are aligned with the principles of Police and Crime Plan. Certain funds that are the sub-
funds of London Crime Prevention Fund are utilized to support joint commissioning of services
across the boroughs of London highlighting specialist services in these areas. The respective
strategy has also been backed up by “trauma informed approach highlighting cultural
competency” ensuring engagement of the youth (victims and support seekers) (London.gov.uk.
2017).
Reflection
I am working as a tutor in a high school in London, a city which is considered to be the
nerve center for knife crime in the United Kingdom. As a responsible tutor, it is my duty
towards my pupils to teach them moral and ethical values of the society apart from academics.
With the growing menace of knife crime in London (that are mostly committed by youth less
than 25 years of age), the school has a responsibility of spreading awareness messages of such
crime inside as well as outside the school premises. A separate “criminality monitoring panel”
department has been opened up in the school that exclusively deals with youth generated
crimes, including knife crime. The school has employed several eminent adolescent
psychologists, criminal psychologists and psychiatric counselors as the members of the panel.
Apart from the customary tasks of criminality monitoring panel, the panel also seeks to look
after the areas such as promoting physical, mental health and emotional wellbeing of the
pupils by providing them psychological therapeutic lessons to make them aware of their
situation and society so that they do not fall prey to any kind of youth violence including knife

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crime and gang knife crime. The psychologists in the panel have also identified the vulnerable
pupils and pupils who already have criminal records and made provisions to ensure their
health, safety and safeguarding through the lifespan. Apart from such activities, one of the
most important activities that the panel has been taking solemn initiative to carry out is
activity of valuing and promoting diversity, difference and inclusion among the pupils through
workshops, conferences and seminars. Pupils are needed to be taught what racial sensitivity
and harmony is all about. With proper studies in diversity and breaking of prejudices, the
pupils would be able to shed their distorted view on racism and thereby, might withdraw from
race- targeted knife crimes.
Knife crimes have been causing crisis of law and order in the streets of London as well
as the area near the school premise where I work as a tutor. Nevertheless, it cannot be denied
that good partnership work between the police and schools can be really effective. The
“criminality monitoring panel” department of the school has collaborated with the
Metropolitan Police force of London that provides the pupils combating skills every weekend
on how to combat any kind of knife crime the students might face in their lives in or outside
the school premises. The forensic investigators who have been appointed in “criminality
monitoring panel” of our school has identified that the most dangerous time for children
shortly after the school is over is between 4 p.m to 6 p.m. Therefore, they have also deduced
the fact that while children might be safe in the site or premises of school, the safety of
children after school remains a concern. Several criminal investigators and criminologists who
are appointed in the panel has said that it would be beneficial for the children if staff of the
school is present at the bus drop offs as they might supervise on the children until they have
completely left after boarding the bus towards their residential destination. The “criminality

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monitoring panel” of our school has been having a “holistic approach” that would help in
benefitting the pupils and safeguarding them from criminal offenses or victimization in the
hands of the perpetrators in crimes such as knife violence. As school pupils are vulnerable,
sensitive and immature enough to fall prey to such crimes, it is the duty of the respective panel
to make the school environment safe, diverse and pupil friendly that would ensure that the
children are getting a healthy environment to study and progress in academics
(Independent.co.uk. 2019). The “criminality monitoring panel” has helped the pupils to gain
confidence within them regarding confronting any kind of dangerous situation or getting
uninvolved in any vicious violence by following certain principles. The principles are: Firstly,
monitoring children at every stage of their educational journey, identifying the risk factors of
every individual pupil because every child is different and acting accordingly. Secondly,
engaging and educating children throughout their time at school about the law of knife
carrying and knife offenses along with its consequences. Third, making children understand
and believe that school has a safe environment for them and making them act in such way.
Fourth, cooperating with external agencies and departments to ensure consistent relationship
and support. Fifth, exclusion should be considered as the last tool that needs to be
incorporated if situation demands so, therefore, more education on inclusive and diverse
environment needs to be incorporated in the mind of the students (Tribe, Harris and Kneebone
2018).
The other secondary activities that the “criminality monitoring panel” carries out are
review of the exclusion, steps taken by schools in relation to educating young people about
knife crime, how the school informs the students about the code of conduct and behavioural
policy, how often such contents of the policy are reinforced in the school premises and how

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school maintains other policies such as anti- bullying, drug abuse, sexual offenses policies.
In the school where I work, the “criminality monitoring panel” should also include the
strategy of “improving relational dynamics between police and pupils”. Unless and until
the police become relevant to the adolescents and the youth pupils of the school, the pupils
who do not fear the crime might see the police as an endurance burden and the pupils who are
scared of the crime would get more scared and fearful of the whole situation. If a good rapport
is built between the police and the pupils, teaching children about knife crime becomes easier
for the panel and the school as well. The strategy of “holistic approach towards crime
awareness” might also help the pupils understand the atrocities of such crimes. It has to be
understood that every child is different and each child has his/her own developmental,
emotional and psychological needs. The child is the father of the man because a child is the
future of the nation. Nowadays, most of the children face numerous psychological issues due
to broken families, exposure to domestic violence, parental abuse, neglect and academic
problems. The psychologists who are appointed at the panel have a very big part to play in the
children’s developmental needs. If any child is seen to be less focused in studies, absent
minded or showing certain dissociative and behavioural issues, the psychologists of the panel
should make an attempt to identify what can the issues the child might be going through. With
proper psychological therapies such as cognitive behavioural therapy, they would be able to
identify the issues and solve such issues because it has been proved that psychologically
vulnerable children and children who often make poor academic results often fall prey to such
violence, both as victims and convicts (Theweek.co.uk. 2019).
As a responsible tutor, I would always ensure that the pupils of my school remain safe and
secured from all kinds of criminal activities. As a responsible citizen, it would be my duty to

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ensure that children are in safe hands and are brought up in a sustainable way so that their
future and the future of the nation is strengthened. Knife crime is an epidemic but through
such active strategies and measures, such crimes can be curbed to a certain extent.
Conclusion
The particular paper concludes to be speaking in details about “knife crime” that is
prevalent in the United Kingdom, the reasons behind such crimes, people who commit such
crimes, target population, statistical data of the prevalence of the crime and how such crimes are
being tackled by the law and order department of the United Kingdom. The paper is in the form
of a descriptive and analytical essay. The second half of the paper concludes to be a reflection
where I have talked about how my workplace (a high school in London) is combating with the
menaces of knife crime by educating and creating scientific awareness among the pupils.

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References:
Bbc.com.(2019). Available at: https://www.bbc.com/news/av/uk-49928422/knife-crime-the-
woman-stabbed-twice-by-other-women
Bbc.com.(2019). Available at: https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-50080236
Edwards, A.D.A.M. and Prins, R.S., 2014. Policing and crime in contemporary London:
Towards a developmental agenda?. European Journal of Policing Studies, 2, p.33.
Independent.co.uk.(2019). Available at: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/knife-
crime-schools-children-blades-machetes-samurai-sword-teachers-a9075621.html
London.gov.uk.(2017). Available at:
https://www.london.gov.uk/sites/default/files/mopac_knife_crime_strategy_june_2017.pdf
Theconversation.com.(2019). Available at: https://theconversation.com/knife-crime-children-are-
not-the-problem-they-are-part-of-the-solution-106893
Theguardian.com.(2019). Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2019/feb/24/sajid-
javid-youth-knife-crime-orders-human-rights-fears
Theguardian.com.uk.(2019). Available at:
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2019/jan/31/sajid-javid-introduces-knife-prevention-
orders
Theweek.co.uk.(2019). Available at: https://www.theweek.co.uk/crime/97620/how-to-solve-
knife-crime

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Tribe, H.C., Harris, A. and Kneebone, R., 2018. Life on a knife edge: using simulation to engage
young people in issues surrounding knife crime. Advances in Simulation, 3(1), p.20.