Really we are just trying to create a state of fear..

[Mr Q]

Despite national alarm over knife crime, the overall number of crimes, including knife offences, is falling, official figures showed today.The British Crime Survey, which is based on interviews with the public, revealed that nearly 130,000 violent offences involved a knife last year, down 43,000 on the previous year.In London, where the problem is worst, the Metropolitan police figures showed a 16% decrease in "knife enabled" crimes, the survey said.Home Secretary Jacqui Smith said the figures amounted to 750,000 fewer victims around the country."Crime has fallen by 18%, the chances of becoming a victim of crime is the lowest since 1981," she said.The figures also showed a record 10% drop in overall crime from the previous year.Separate police-recorded crime in England, set out in the government's annual crime report, showed a fall of 9% in the 12 months to March 2008.Police recorded 22,151 offences involving knives last year in England and Wales, including grievous bodily harm, attempted murder, woundings and robbery.The police statistics, which unlike the crime survey include figures for under-16s, showed more than 60% of knife offences were confined to predominantly urban areas: Merseyside, Greater Manchester, the West Midlands and London. The highest number of offences - 7,409 - were recorded in the capital. Using a broader range of offences, the Metropolitan police recorded 10,220 knife enabled crimes – 16% fewer than 2006/07 figures, which were down 4% on 2005/06 figures.The new recorded knife crime figures - which have been collected since April last year - showed offences involving knives included 231 attempted murders, 11,528 personal robberies, 2,359 business robberies and more than 8,000 woundings.The recorded crime figures showed the number of firearms offences increased 2% in the year to 9,803.Recorded drug offences rose 18%, mainly due to an increase in the number of people dealt with for cannabis possession.Smith also announced today that many crime targets would be scrapped, saying: "The time is now right to strip away all but one top-down target for police forces - to deliver improved levels of public confidence that crime is being tackled. This is a direct response to calls from chief officers for the space and freedom to focus on tackling crime. It is a significant mark of my trust in them."Home Office chief scientific adviser, Professor Paul Wiles, said the overall figures represented the longest recorded period of falling crime in living memory.He said the level of falling violent crime was at odds with the public's perception of their chances of being attacked.Wiles said: "It is possible to have an overall decline in violence nationally while sometimes, and at the same time, having outbreaks of violent crimes in particular places, in particular concentrations and having increases in those places.""For the first time this year we have data about the use of knives and sharp instruments for more serious violence.The figures come at a time of public concern about knife crime in the wake of a spate of murders, many involving teenagers.

V

[Uncle Man]

try telling the tabloidswats the bars from yr sig from btw

[Bardissimo]

the red heads are manipulating the stats but besides that, the alarming thing is that the perputrators are getting younger, alie??

[Mr Q]

try telling the tabloidswats the bars from yr sig from btw

Lupe Fiasco-Hurt me soul

[Uncle Man]

try telling the tabloidswats the bars from yr sig from btw

Lupe Fiasco-Hurt me soul

safe

[Thun]

Problem-Reaction-Solution init

[Steven]

the red heads are manipulating the stats but besides that, the alarming thing is that the perputrators are getting younger, alie??

[Trane]

Yea, violent offences involving a knife are down, but that includes someone using a knife and jacking someone, but not stabbing them. But I think youll find fatalities from a stab wound on the street, are up. If anyone should be accused of creating a 'state of fear' it should be the wankers carrying the knifes to go to the cornershop.

[LYRICAL_APARTHEID]

99 percent of stats are made up on the dot.

[Skola]

Yea, violent offences involving a knife are down, but that includes someone using a knife and jacking someone, but not stabbing them. But I think youll find fatalities from a stab wound on the street, are up. If anyone should be accused of creating a 'state of fear' it should be the wankers carrying the knifes to go to the cornershop.

they aint all wankers some people carry a blade in fearthe more they report about knife crimethe more people will feel they need extra protection

[Trane]

Yea, violent offences involving a knife are down, but that includes someone using a knife and jacking someone, but not stabbing them. But I think youll find fatalities from a stab wound on the street, are up. If anyone should be accused of creating a 'state of fear' it should be the wankers carrying the knifes to go to the cornershop.

they aint all wankers some people carry a blade in fearthe more they report about knife crimethe more people will feel they need extra protection

Id rather give someone my wallet, phone, rings, watch and cap than have to walk down the street with a knife.

[Trane]

Yea, violent offences involving a knife are down, but that includes someone using a knife and jacking someone, but not stabbing them. But I think youll find fatalities from a stab wound on the street, are up. If anyone should be accused of creating a 'state of fear' it should be the wankers carrying the knifes to go to the cornershop.

they aint all wankers some people carry a blade in fearthe more they report about knife crimethe more people will feel they need extra protection

Id rather give someone my wallet, phone, rings, watch and cap than have to walk down the street with a knife.

smh

So if someone came up to you and asked for your sh*t and they had a knife and so did you. You then pulled your one out, and they didnt back down. What would you do next?

[kurious]

no fear no dependancy

[Guest Remy Lebeau]

99 percent of stats are made up on the dot.

[Superstition]

Someone was paying attention at Marxism Yeah knife crimes are down. I think I remember someone at the Gun/Knife Crime seminar, mentioning that the figures getting quoted even include people getting injured by broken bottles - yet even with such a wide definiton they're still going down. Specifically knife shankings are roughly constant, but what IS occuring is the victims and perpetrators, especially in London, are getting younger. So obv it's still a problem.It's not that people are setting out to create a culture of fear. But unfortunately, much of the political battle in this country consist of who owns the "tough on crime" championship belt. Conservatives are seeking office, so they're howling about how dangerous the country is, whining about Labour's weakness on crime, trying to convince everybody that Tories will stand guard outside your house at night with shottys and make you feel safe. It's good in a way, because it puts alienation of young people on the agenda. And it starts to get people questioning why younger and younger kids are falling into madness. But bad also, because the press is trying to sell papers, and headlines like "YOU AND YOUR 9-YEAR-OLD DAUGHTER WILL BE STABBED 348 TIMES WHILE COPPIN POTATOES FROM ASDA TOMORROW MORNING" make people interested. It gets their attention, and gets the paper sold/the news watched/etc.You've got nuff Mothers Against Guns/youth workers/teachers/etc on the news stressing the fact that our young generation is growing up too early and dying too young, genuinely and earnestly looking for a solution, but their getting manipulated by politicians to score 'crime' points. And when every politician and media outlet are in a constant screaming frenzy about how you need a shank-proof vest to visit your grandma, anxiety becomes thick in the air. Youts that are prone to carry knives WILL then do so, because everybody they come into contact with who wears a suit is telling them that wolfpacks are hunting them down to stab them to death in Greggs. Stories about kids getting bored up and shot in the ends are seemingly increasing all the time, so guys get anxious, and fear dictates their choices.It's a self-fulfilling prophecy, which the people with the biggest voices who set the agenda (politicians/media) benefit from. More papers, more anger at Labour, all resulting in David Cameron and his loathesome band of Etonians getting into power, The Sun gets their "more police/more jails/longer sentences" wish, and while the middle classes feel cushy and safe again... more kids get locked up, more ruined lives, more exclusion and alienation, and more violence and crime. Then everybody thats still alive in 5 years will move to Baghdad for safety.

[carpedeum]

its not really just trying to create a state of fear though. in all honesty those stats are just police data and dont mean much.like really, what the hell does 43,000 less crimes mean when there were still so many. who really gives a sh*t when they say crime is down 4% in your area? does that mean anything? it is crime afterall not an interest rate. its all about how people feel about the state of crime. most people still feel safe im sure, but almost all are aware of the possibility of crime happening near them. when giuliani reduced homicides in NY city by about 70% now thats when crime stats really begin to mean anything.

[Afroman]

who watched the wright stuff this morning? and this knife topic was on?Some officer called in and said they do actually manipulate the figures to avoid public panic.And this recent figures are false.Alot of people think the media & the government have the same agenda in regards to this issue. It snot the case.

[Gunner]

Who the f*ck actually cares for any figures apart from the number of deaths.Fact is we do have a knife problem.Yes the media are blowing it out of proportion to a degree, but the fact remains that getting stabbed isn't a joke, lots of yoots are getting stabbed, not saying lots were not before.