BRITAIN: 60% die by sharp implement, 11% by firearms
Date: Mar 21, 2007 9:55 AM
PUBLICATION: The Daily Telegraph
DATE: 2007.03.20
SECTION: News
PAGE: 011
BYLINE: Chris Eades
NOTE: Commentary
WORD COUNT: 528

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Why young people in poor areas are the most likely to die

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AFTER a week of tragedy, knives are back on the political agenda again,
as they were last year after a series of tragic deaths.

One of the problems in understanding such incidents is the lack of
high-quality research and data on the different types of “knife crime”,
its prevalence, whom it affects, motivations for it and responses to it.
Without this information, devising successful strategies will be
difficult. Enough is known to offer us at least a rough picture of the
problem.

“Knife crime” ranges from the simple act of carrying an illegal blade
through to using it to kill. Knowing how many people carry knives, how
often and for what reasons is difficult. Research suggests it is most
common among those aged 14 to 21, peaking among 16- to 17-year-olds

Looking at knife use to commit particular crimes, the picture is a
little clearer. For example, knife-enabled “muggings” and wounding
are
well below the levels seen in 1995. However, the last two years have
seen steep rises; in 2004/05 there were 24,290 recorded incidents of
knife use in “mugging” but in 2005/06 this became 42,020 recorded
incidents, a rise of about 73 per cent. For woundings, there were 28,850
recorded incidents of knife use in wounding offences in 2004/05 but in
2005/06 this had risen by almost 14 per cent to 32,820. This should be
seen against the long-term downward trend.

Children and young people, black and minority ethnic communities and
populations living in poorer areas are most likely to be the victims of
crime, violent crime and knife offences.

According to the 2005/06 British Crime Survey (BCS), the risk of
becoming a victim of violent crime is 3.4 per cent for a British adult.
It is four times greater for young men. According to another survey, one
fifth of young people had been a victim of an assault in the previous 12
months. Unsurprisingly, it is that age group too which is most likely to
carry a knife “for protection”, and most likely to be stabbed and
to
die by a knife.

The problem is worse still for those living in poorer areas. Despite the
rise in the homicide rate that Britain has experienced over recent
years, the wealthiest areas have witnessed a fall. Meanwhile, the
homicide rate in the poorest of areas in Britain rose sixfold in the
eighties and nineties. The most common way in which people are killed in
the poorest areas in Britain is through being cut with a sharp
implement. About 60 per cent die that way, much more than by firearms,
which are used in only 11 per cent of cases. In the wealthiest areas,
cutting accounts for just over 30 per cent of homicides and firearms
account for 29 per cent. Given that the vast majority of murders occur
in the poorest areas, homicide by knife or glass/bottle accounts for the
vast majority of deaths.

Chris Eades is the policy and information officer of the Centre for
Crime and Justice Studies at the School of Law, King’s College, London.

The Second Amendment IS Homeland Security !