Protection Is being used as a rational to carry a knife – Yela Fleischer

-A blog post exploring why there’s a need for protection due to alarming rates of knife crime but also uncovering incompetence by the Met police which has led to this

Examining wider society, “protection” being used as a rationale to carry a knife may be justified if we look at social control agencies such as the police for example. Recent controversies and revelations that have been exposed to society via the media have revealed that there are incompetencies and corruption within the police force especially in units where it’s highly-vetted.

As someone who lives in South London and in an area where there’s high levels of deprivation and delinquency, I can argue that from the experiences and things I’ve heard, carrying a knife is genuinely somewhat used as a form of “protection”. For many years, the UK in general, especially London has experienced an ongoing problem of knife violence which has cost the lives of many young people. Statistics illustrate that in the year ending March 2022, there were around 45,000 offences involving a sharp instrument in England and Wales which was 9% higher than in 2020/21 and 34% higher than in 2010/11 which evidently displays that this problem is still ongoing and gradually gets worse over time. From the media i.e. news reports, newspapers, social media platforms etc. a lot of information is given surrounding knife crimes and deaths related to knife crime however, a lot of light is shed on the outcomes but not on the reasoning behind why knife crime exists.

There’s some factors related to knife crime such as:

• Childhood experiences i.e. parental criminality, abuse, being taken into care etc.
• Gang affiliation i.e. postcode wars, county lines
• High levels of deprivation 

The need for individuals to even feel that carrying a knife will protect them more than the police proposes a wider debate. This clearly shows that the current legislation surrounding possession of knives but also the penalties faced when committing a knife crime is not effective as if it was, people won’t be using carrying a knife relentlessly or using it as a form of protection. 

Protection being used as a rationale to carry a knife could perhaps stem from the notion of “snitching” which is apparent in hood cultures. Of course when someone in a gang is killed as a result of knife crime, the others involved within that gang will try and seek revenge but because of “street codes”, they’re not inclined to report to local authorities such as the police to take proper action. As a result, carrying a knife is being used as a rationale for protection in the sense that they have other gangs after them. So in fact yes, some individuals do need to carry a knife in need of protection due to gang affiliation and fear of becoming a victim of knife crime violence. However, it doesn’t dismiss the fact that some carry a knife for no apparent reason or to feel big.

 Young people needing knives as a form of “protection” should highlight the harsh reality that knife violence has replaced formal social control as people are now taking matters into their own hands. This also reinforces the topic surrounding the lack of public confidence in authorities such as the police as this is a by-product of the lack of trust in the police but also the labelling of police officers being referred to as “gangs” and becoming a public enemy. Due to recent news reports on police officers being exposed for being sex offenders and committing sexual assaults on women, many opinions have been expressed via Twitter on how appalled they are by the corruption and lack of accountability within the workforce. This public outrage has in fact illustrated that many people do not trust the police anymore and their services so there’s an obvious lack of confidence in the police which are essentially there to protect the public and maintain society.

 Met Police incompetency isn’t something that is new as even when the whole Stepehen Lawrence case occurred, the Macpherson report concluded that the Met Police were found to be institutionalised racist therefore emphasising again that they’re not to be trusted. Young people especially those from ethnic minority groups are less likely to go to the police to report a crime because of their over criminalisation by the police but also deviant labels that have been attached to them. If we look at statistics surrounding how black people are stopped and searched 9 times more than white people, this clearly shows the criminalisation of that group so therefore, they’ll feel as if even just going to the police could put them in trouble too.

All of this evidence suggests that perhaps the need for “protection” is in some way acceptable in the sense that the trust in the police is so low that they can’t turn to the police to get help so there needs to be a form of informal social control especially if we consider factors such as race and class. 

Nonetheless, we have to keep in mind that some individuals that are not necessarily exposed to the gang life/activities in fact voluntarily partake within that lifestyle due to the glamorisation of gang violence in music videos, video games and etc. so there’s no substantial reasoning for them to actually carry a knife for protection; some are just carrying one to look “cool”. The glamorisation of knife crime however, is more apparent in areas that are more affluent and wealthier as because of the media, it has spread into those areas. However, in areas of more relative poverty and deprivation, there’s a need for “protection” and reality actually hits young people because of delinquent activity but also ongoing postcode wars whereby it’s easy to become a target. 

This is a guest post written by one of our Interns Yela that shares her views on knife crime and perception of protection and failure.

PRS / Penal Reform Solutions does not condone knife crime nor any unlawful activity but equally believes that there are challenges that are on all sides and what is needed is the need to collectively find a solution to repair this urgently.

We would love to hear from you if you have been affected by knife crime or if you have an opinion about this article, please email us at info@penalreformsolutions.com