Knife crime sits within a broader context.
Millions of people worldwide and many in the UK are killed and injured every day by car traffic, as well as the health effects of breathing their fumes and tyre particles. London is the hit and run car accident capital.
But somehow the horror of knife crime gets more attention, particularly when Sadiq Khan is up for re-election.
So what would the Green Party do about knife crime?
Too often violent crime is not punished enough by harsh custodial sentences. While the Green Party wants to abolish custodial sentences for those under the age of 18, it would also free up prison places by decriminalising and regulating the drug trade. This would free up prison places for serious violent crimes. Most of this is committed by men.
Other parties, and some charities, argue for deterrence but then try and say that drugs are the root cause, where as it's actually the way that drugs are policed and criminalised.
Awareness campaigns are sometimes scaring young people and making them actually more likely to carry knives. Research by Caroline Russell, London Assembly member, shows that police are going into schools and showing pictures of scary knives on social media, in many local areas.
The "London needs you alive" campaign was one such awareness campaign, which isn't targeted at your local voters but actually targeting children to encourage them to have something to live for and not to descend into nihilism that would make them risk carrying knives in their circles of friends.
In Nottingham, knives and guns have often been used in violent attacks and reprisals. Then the community came together, as mothers, elders, and black people, saying enough is enough. We don't want our young people to be victims of this any more. They demonstrated on the streets.
In London we've seen similar initiatives such as knife amnesty bins and "art against knives".
I've been particularly instructed by the Voice newspaper on this topic.
I've been aware of local community memorials for young victims of crime, for instance the 4front project.
& I've been inspired by recent peace protests which have sought to disrupt institutions until their demands are met. The families of survivors of violence (which often originates from the metropolitan police) are the most powerful leaders and when they are united, I believe in their power to make change.
Sian Berry and the City Hall Greens have diverted some money away from police violence to start the young Londoners fund and violence reduction unit. There have also been good moves from Sadiq Khan to bring experts form Glasgow and to treat the epidemic of violence as a public health issue. We've seen on BBC London how police, youth services, and the NHS are working together in an East London A & E department to offer interventions at a critical time in a young person's life. The Greens' budget amendments have consistently saved the youth services from closing over the pandemic and will continue to pressure a future government to properly fund youth services, which have been cut by the Conservatives over the last decades. They do this by showing the value of youth services.
I predict we'll see more of this but do check out the announcement that Zoe Garbett has already made about drugs. This looks to be a priority for her campaign as Mayor of London candidate this year.
From speaking with Zoe I know that as a local councillor she is also keen on preventing and raising awareness of cuts to local services such as DV. I believe that there's a link between DV and violence outside the home.
Stop and search has failed in tackling knife violence problems and created problems of its own and that's why I point to the above more positive solutions.
I'm also a big follower of USA politics. The school strikes to stop school shootings were the inspiration for Greta Thurnberg's movement Fridays for our Future.
No comments:
Post a Comment