Crime Problem in the UK

[Awesome_Paul]

Last week an 11 Year old boy (Rhys Jones) was shot on the way home. But the worst part is, that a 15 Year old could be the killer.

 

From January, there has been at least one killing per month. Though not talking about all ages, these are killings between 11 and 16 year olds, FROM kids that age.

 

If I was asked 5 years ago, what is safer, the UK or the US, I would have easily said the UK. But now im not so sure, Now kids between 11 and 15 are walking around with Knifes, Guns and who know what.

 

This is the of the biggest problems in the UK, I don't think I've ever seen this many killings by young people in soo long.

 

So what do you all think about this, How do you think the government should solve this problem.

[Samuel]

Violent crime amongst teenagers in Britain really is hyped up. The media have discovered the phrase "gang culture" and leeched to it like it's the Bible. There are millions of children in the UK, and if just one kid dies a month, then that's pretty good, right?

 

Of course, it's not ideal. And there are areas around the UK - in London, in Manchester, in Liverpool - where gun crime is a little more prevalent. But nevertheless, according to the Home Office, gun crime accounts for less than 0.5% of all crime; in 2005-2006, the risk of being a victim of crime was 23% (the lowest since records began in 1981).

 

The idea that children are going around carrying knives and guns is, in my mind, absurd. There are some more violent types that I know, but even they don't carry around knives. That's not to say it doesn't exist - Rhys' murder proved to the contrary - but there is, in most areas, no "gang culture" at all. Have you yourself actually ever seen a kid run around with a knive? It just doesn't happen.

 

With Rhys' murder, it was a case of both mistaken identity and being in the wrong place at the wrong time. He was an innocent victim. But where gangs do exist, they only bear arms to protect themselves, not to go out and attack others.

 

We do need to do something about that in the problem areas; stepping up police patrols (both officers and community support officers) is an obvious thing to do, but also sending the police into schools to educate must be a priority (I live in a low-crime area, but the only police officer we've had in school to talk to us is to talk about 'nicking a Mars bar'. However, I'll admit the police are very visible; my school is on multi-sites, with various site entrances, and police officers are freely able to walk in at any time and walk around at breaks, talking to students; when they're not here during breaks, they're on bikes patrolling the town.).

 

It's not as bad as it's hyped up to be, especially if you're of a Daily Mail persuasion. The government is already doing plenty - the introduction of Police CSO's has worked really well, and they are actively stopping the gun trade in the UK.

 

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