Should the citizens of the United Kingdom be afraid? Reading the headlines of the ‘red top’ newspapers – you should be. Because stories involving public violence sell newspapers and whip up politicians.

Why is a branch of violent death suddenly deemed unacceptable, when ten people die in motor vehicles in the UK every day? Clearly there is a tendency for the press and media to focus a spot light on stories that appear as fresh and ‘in the public interest’ i.e. exciting. Statistics showing an increase in knife crime need to interpreted by statisticians and explained to the public intelligently because we all know they often give a false picture of what is going on.

Crime is something most people have an opinion on but few understand. They call a burglary a robbery and a robbery a theft. Journalists often confuse the legal terminology and I expect the man on the omnibus would have trouble as well.

When children are murdering each other there certainly needs to be a debate. I would start that debate on whether the law needs another word for a child on the verge of adulthood. Should a seventeen year old be treated legally as a child when they can join the army and or get married?

Murder using a knife is a specific crime. It is however no different to murder using any other implement in it’s effect. Because firearms are hard to obtain in the UK, it is likely that a similar weapon will be preferred. A knife is certainly the weapon of the bully who uses it to cause intimidation and or cause injury or death. Rarely do cases emerge of a knife fight in which both parties use knives. This shows that those who carry a knife wish to intimidate and win a conflict rather than meet anyone on equal terms. This is bullying at it’s most extreme and behaviour pattern often learnt in the school environment and carried over into adulthood.

So when politicians are asking their civil servants who is responsible for stopping knife crime the answer is not as simple as ‘the police’. Policing is always the last resort. As Police Commissioner Cresida Dick said, ‘we cannot arrest our way out of this problem’.

Police presence as a deterrent does work but only under very specific circumstances. I once asked an ‘old time copper’ how many burglaries he had witnessed in the thirty years he spent walking the streets, he replied, ‘two’. Crimes are not generally omitted in front of the police neither do they tend to ‘come across’ them.

The mayor of New York became famous for reducing crimes on the streets at a time when violent crime was a problem. He did it simply by placing a police officer on each street corner. This had a significant effect on reducing crime in the area where crimes had previously been common. Perhaps they were moved elsewhere – deflected – some like shop lifting would be. This model however cannot always be copied and used elsewhere. It’s matter of police numbers.

So for once in my view, the UK Prime Minister, Teresa May is correct. There are many reasons for a spate in knife crime and all those with a handle on the problem need to get together. More police on patrol might have an effect in the short but random patrols – even targeted patrols – are modelled on military tactics and not part of a long lasting solution.

Who then are the owners of the ‘knife crime’ problem?

Parents

Relatives

Friends

Peers

Teachers

Social Workers

Youth Workers – Sociologists and Academic Researchers

Faith Leaders

Drugs Councillors

Mental Health Professionals

Prison Officers

Public Transport Operators and Staff

Entertainers – e.g. Rap Performers

Social Media Service Providers

Architects, Planners and Developers

Local Councils – Town Centre Managers, Retailers

Local Councils – Youth Services, Educational Establishments, Sports e.g. Martial Arts Teachers

The General Public – potential witnesses

Politicians

Police

The list is probably too short. You might think of others but my point is that the strands of the problem are complex and no single action will contribute to a reduction of the problem.

In each murder there will be some parties and partners who had the chance to impact on the likelihood of an individual child committing a murder. Parents probably top the list because of their intimacy in a family environment and ability to monitor the influences, moods, thoughts, companionship, peer demands, social freedoms and restrictions and every other aspect of their children’s lives.

The topic is considerably more complicated than focusing on gang culture and the use and supply of drugs – but these factors are certainly a part of the problem.

In the last few decades, Youth Services such as Youth Clubs and Sports Centres have been decimated by successive governments. I heard an interview with a man who lived in an area of London where gang culture ruled the streets for young people. He cited the start of the problems with the closure of the Youth Club and annual outings out of the city in which young people came together.

He had brought several warring gangs together through music. Young people who hated each other for reasons no more scary than geography i.e. territory came together to play music, sing and dance. It worked. He should be given a medal.

Drugs are inevitably a significant factor in the power and control of the gangs over their members. They are forced to operate in Mafia style battles over territory and people. Laced through this nightmare are the selling and consumption of illegal drugs that perpetuate the horror and force drug users and gang members into an downward spin.

Just because drugs are hard to control does not mean they are not part of the problem. This is an area where police do hold a significant strand and their powers to stop and search suspects need to be encouraged and used to the full. Local residents usually know exactly where drug dealing and users operate and good intelligence will empower police.

The fact that the victims and perpetrators are often under the age of eighteen is something for society to be deeply shamed about, for they have access to educational facilities and some sort of home lives which children in many poorer countries do not have.

There is not room to discuss even a small aspect of this problem here. One can only expect that the consensus amongst politicians is to do something other than spend money on knee jerk solutions.

Problems that evolve slowly with social change usually require slow time remedies. The public need to be told this and reminded of their duty to step up to their own responsibilities as shared owners of the problem.