Knife crime

Knives have been a pre-eminent theme this week with the government announcing that from now on anyone over the age of 16 caught carrying a knife in public can expect to be prosecuted. As someone who had the privilege of working for the country's most senior police officers for six months, I think this is a terrible idea. Surely, the decision to prosecute for possession of a knife should be based on criminal intent and the circumstances of their arrest.

Anyone who thinks that such a response equates to being 'soft on crime' should look at surveys conducted by the ONS and the Youth Justice Board which show that one of the main reasons why children carry knives today is out of fear of being a victim of knife crime themselves. Are we really saying that the very children who are so in need of our protection that they have taken to arm themselves are, from now on, to be lumped into the same category as the gang members and bullies who prompted them to take these measures in the first place?

Furthermore, when the Police Service has to spend more of its time combating the stigmas of old that manifest themselves in the resistance to increased stop 'n' search and surveillance powers, not to mention the chronic under-reporting of crimes that most hampers the ability of police forces to do their job, are we really prepared to alienate a whole new generation of youngsters?

If that's not enough, think of all the paperwork that police officers will have to fill out for every random youngster they find carrying a knife, even for the most innocuous reasons. Should such officers decide merely to give these youths a reprimand so they can focus on real crimes, they'll be lambasted by their Chief Constable, and their force condemned by the Home Office, as a failure.

In short, Rod Morgan, the former chairman of the youth justice board and one of the government's advisers on youth justice, was wrong to label this measure as gesture politics. It's just bad politics.