Police forces attempt to challenge public's perception of knife crime problem
Despite a perception that knife crime is getting ''out of control'', police chiefs insist they are winning the fight against blade culture on the streets of Tayside and Fife.
- By Alan Richardson
- Published in the Courier : 26.01.12
- Published online : 26.01.12 @ 05.55pm
Although figures obtained by The Courier show a rise in crimes involving knives in Fife, detection rates — where there is enough evidence to consider criminal proceedings — have also increased, with all but one offence detected last year.
In Tayside, the number of crimes has reduced, reflecting a targeted approach to those carrying weapons across the area.
Tayside's Assistant Chief Constable Angela Wilson said: ''The force takes all incidents involving knives very seriously and a great deal of proactive activity has been focused in this area over the last two years in particular.
''A great deal of violent crime has a close association with the consumption of excess alcohol thus we have undertaken high-profile policing during the night time economy... under the banner 'Home Safe' in Perth and 'Centre Safe' in Dundee and Total Dry-up force-wide focusing on young people and alcohol.
''We have held two previous knife amnesties, albeit with limited success. We include warnings regarding the dangers of carrying knifes in our schools programmes and through successive media releases.''
A stop and search system where there is a suspicion a knife is being carried has also been embraced by officers, with over 3,000 people examined between April and December, last year and 60 blades recovered.
''An important deterrent is knowing that there is a chance you will be searched by police,'' Ms Wilson said.
While the number of crimes went down from 254 to 225 between 2010 and 2011, the detection rate was 82%, a four-year high.
Exact details of the crimes committed last year are not available as many are still working their way through the system but of the 225, 107 were crimes of violence and the rest were more minor offences.
The majority (95) of the serious incidents were classed as detected.
In Fife, the number of knife crimes rose for the fourth year in row, up from 370 in 2010 to 405. However, all but one of them was detected.
Councillor Alexander Stewart of Tayside Joint Police Board said he had become increasingly alarmed by the amount of knife crime in the area and had called for a new initiative to ''prevent further incidents and help the community feel safer.''
However, he was reassured by the figures and ''proactive'' steps taken by the police recently.
He said: ''I can't understand why anyone would feel safer carrying a knife or offensive weapon, but it may also have something to do with something called 'street credibility,' which I do not believe justifies a good enough reason for carrying a weapon.
''I very much welcome this positive attitude and the resulting reduction in crime. I feel it can allay some of the fears within the community.''
06.32pm - 26.01.2012 Dundee Postgrad - Dundee, UK Report This
Do the police really believe that criminals will be stopped by the fact that carrying an offensive weapon is illegal? Britain is one of the only countries in the world where law abiding people are denied even the humble protection of pepper spray. We've no right to self defence at all here.
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