What can be done to curb knife crime.
 

First we have to accept the unpalatable truth that knife and gun crime are predominantly black on black crimes. Black youths are over-represented in the figures... and yet stop and search is looked upon as an infringement of their rights. Kids are groomed by gangs while their in primary school... I don't know what the answer is but I do think more black police officers would go a long way in building bridges between the constabulary and the black community.

I think we should get much tougher on the people who carry knives etc , and yes more police ,but if they are not allowed to stop and search its pointless , and whilst it's fashionable to blame the government saying they have blood on their hands , NO the only people with blood an their hands are the people who thrust the knife in , also parents need to take more control , some parents don't care as their little angels are out of their way, so as Livia said more black policemen,harsher punishments and parental control back.

Harsher punishments for me...

One bloke was given a police caution for having a knife at school then was caught two years later with cocain canibis and a knife.....he was given a six month suspended sentence...that is no deterrent for these feral kids....also no ground stop and searches should be ramped up to the max, which would mean more police on the streets....which can only be a good thing...

Plastic cutlery. :)

No good for the planet, too much plastic already.

There’s no one single solution.
It needs a multi faceted approach.

Harsher punishments,Stop and search,education,Youth schemes,more police,more cash etc.

Proactive police response rather than reactive..

Recycleable. :)

Not in East London I'm afraid....they would just be dumped on the streets with he rest of the rubbish.

Good parenting.

^^^

More funding for youth programs and after school organisations. Gangs prey on young people who have no other family structure or those who feel left out by society. We need to make young people realise there is a life for them outside of gang culture, that their life is worth so much more and that there is a place for them in our society.

Stop and search creates climate in which black men are presumed to be guilty and are told that they must constantly have their privacy violated by police in order to prove themselves innocent. I really can't see how putting more policemen on the streets to humiliate and harass black people will do anything but make them feel more alienated.

I'm also not sure about harsher punishments because I can't imagine a gang banger is thinking about how long their sentencing might be.

Speaking from experience of being a kid, where I grew up, on a council estate in Hull, we didn't need funding or youth programmes, we just needed a football and we was happy. Stabbing people never entered our minds at any point.

That's great. Sadly, not a universal experience.

There isn't any knife crime near me or near probably most members so

stabbing people doesn't enter the minds of the majority of black youth in London but this thread isn't about them.

My point is, lack of funding and youth programmes, isn't a good enough excuse.

It's not an excuse. It's being offered as one potential solution.

when did i say that was an excuse??

.

But surely that is the type of mentallity the public need off their streets,

i'm not against it but i just can't see it being enough.

That would help, but sadly, I'm afraid areas and countries that the parents have arrived in the uk from this knife carrying is a form of acceptable conduct and if needed,:shrug: confrontation..