Knife crime is rising in London, and politicians have no idea how to tackle it. Today, the government has announced a plan to ban young people from social media to control suspects they think may carry a knife.
The orders would target anyone over the age of 12 suspected of being involved in knife crime regardless of whether they were actually caught with a weapon or not.
If a court is provided with police intelligence about a young person they could impose curfews for suspects which would deter them from going to areas where they may get into trouble with other gangs. Other plans might also require a suspect to stay away from other members suspected of being in gangs. Breaching any of these rules might lead to prison time of up to two years.
Last year a fifth of offences for possession or threatening with a knife involved 10 to 17-year-olds. The amount of children hospitalised for sharp injury wounds has jumped by 80 per cent since 2015.
Home Secretary Sajid Javid, who so far has proved himself to be just as bigoted as his predecessors, has said that he will “do everything in (his) power to tackle the senseless violence that is traumatising communities and claiming too many young lives”.
The chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Knife Crime, Sarah Jones, told the BBC that: “Imprisoning a young person – as young as 12 years old – for two years for breaching this order is completely disproportionate,” and called the plans “flawed”.
While the tough proposal will effectively stop suspects from socialising with criminals, it also works to further isolate young children from their friends and social circles before they’ve even been caught with a weapon.
Read young people’s take on the rising violence in the city here.
