Intro.
This is not a nice subject to talk about but as a knife enthusiast it is something that is important to be aware of. I live in Perth, Western Australia, by all accounts it’s a safe city with very few homicides. For the past 9 years the average annual homicide rate in Western Australia is 95.7. If we compare this the a similar sized city in the U.S (Orlando for example, it’s double our figure), sorry Orlando! I was brought up in the U.K, Birmingham for example had 135 murders in 2023. Information as to just how many of these are related to knives remains unknown at the time of publication.
It’s pretty safe to say that knife crime around cities and urban areas on a global scale is on the increase. It has an impact across many facets of life. Individuals, families, extended families and the communities all face significant challenges dealing with these horrific assaults or even deaths.
If it reaches enough people perhaps this article can serve as a reminder to be careful whilst out and about and more importantly remind us to nurture our children and indeed the next generation to try and understand our place in society and get along with people rather than fighting with them.
Knife Crime, Who is Responsible?
Knife crime is everywhere. The fact that a knife can be carried around in a concealed manner presents a problem to society when these individuals have bad intent. It’s obvious to say but these kind of crimes can be triggered by two people arguing over something that gets out of control, to robbery, to organized crime to violent drug gangs protecting their patch and even self-defense comes into play. What finally motivates a person or gang to carry out such a crime is the 64 thousand dollar question.
My little article regarding this issue is not intended to find solutions to this complex problem but to bring awareness to the different contexts and motivations.
Background Environment.
It’s a really complex issue, the contributing factors that will exacerbate knife crime have been known for years but still the statistics keep showing a rise in the problem. The socioeconomic problems of people on low incomes and limited opportunities, lack of employment, inadequate or non-existent community support are all environments where people desperate for extra money have to live. Purely by the fact that these people need to live in cheaper areas are more likely to face someone brandishing a knife than someone in a more affluent gated community. Some people are looking to escape the hum drum life without much hope often eventually see themselves either dealing drugs or a user of them or both.
Of course there are the obvious serious criminal elements of society like gangs who like to control certain home patch areas often look to their own backyard to recruit young vulnerable new members who act as runners (run drugs from one area to another) and become entrenched into that way of life.
Consequences.
This kind of crime permeates across countless areas of life. The physical injury or death is one thing but the impact it has on communities and society in general has far reaching affects. Families, friends, neighbors, everyone connected suffers in some way.
Psychological Trauma.
The immediate victim, if they survive, will need to endure the fallout, at the very least, the anxiety caused by the event. They may even suffer (PTSD). But it doesn’t stop there. Witnesses often suffer similar mental stress. Then of course there are the family members who are psychologically damaged by it, in some cases long term. Survivors may face anxiety, depression, and other mental health challenges. Witnesses, especially if they are friends or family members, may also suffer emotional distress.
The consequences of knife crime extend beyond the immediate physical harm caused to individuals. Communities affected by high levels of knife crime experience increased fear and a diminished sense of security. Additionally, the impact on a broader scale affect strained healthcare systems, increased policing costs, and a negative impact on the overall well-being of communities.
Law Enforcement and Policy Responses.
With the greatest respect there isn’t much the police can do to prevent these occurrences. Law enforcement is more about dealing with the problem after it occurs. I have an article on the legality of carrying knives around in society (for Australia). These are just laws, rules and regulations, they are there as a deterrent but the severity of the punishment if you break these laws are not enough. Desperate people do desperate things to get whatever it is they want, especially when it comes to gang related incidents.
Certain community policing initiatives, and targeted neighborhood programs for young people in high-risk areas can help curb the threat of knife related crimes. In my view it takes a lot more than a band aid approach of finding things for youths to do, placing more police in the areas.
I think it needs to start at home and governments need to have a serious powerful approach of getting young families to interact in programs that teach the big picture of parenting and educate them on how important looking after our future through the care of our young people is.
If we can just interrupt the cycle of crime that keeps perpetuating itself through the years we might have a chance to turn things around. As I say it needs to have billions of dollars set aside to make it happen. I won’t hold my breath though.
Prevention and Intervention.
Reducing crime in a neighborhood requires a lot of effort, time and money thrown at it.
Firstly, creating strong community connections is a key factor. Believe it or not programs like neighborhood watch do seem to make a difference. Areas where people keep their eyes open play their part in looking out for each other it does seem to help reduce the amount of suspicious characters wandering around the suburbs.
Police might need to build trust with residents in area where they were once unwelcome can help. Start to engage with residents on a normal day to day level instead of only showing up in some kind of confrontational setting. Police can also assist in the creation of after school sport and activity programs make a big difference in steering youngsters in the right direction.
Programs in cleaning up the neighborhood has a positive affect for residents. Some studies have found that simply keeping an area tidy, rubbish removed and gardens landscaped also help. Ultimately, a combination of community involvement, proactive policing, and social support can help to create a safer neighborhood.
Conclusion.
It complicated eh? Listen, I’m not here to solve the communities social problems, particularly regarding knife crime. I wrote this article because I want people to be aware of the issue that can arise if knife enthusiasts don’t take care of their knives and let them leak out into the community. Having said that knives are a lot easier to get hold of than guns for example, at least in Australia that is, therefore keeping tabs on them and using them for they are made for keeps them safely in the hands of fisherman, campers, hikers and survivalists.
People like me love our knives in the sense of engineering, blade material, handle material, color, design and all that good stuff. Using them for anything other than the right thing doesn’t even enter our heads. Some of us are knife nerds with some sort of obsession about blades. For us it’s even Art!
Because we want to be able to collect them, camp, hike and survive with our bladed companions we want to see everyone do their bit for the community, educate our kids and help keep us all safe which at the same time can enable us knife people to continue to love our knives and use them wisely.
As always, happy camping :0)