Knife crime on the rise?

Whether knife crime is on the up, or just the new hot topic of the media, it's an undoubtedly a very concerning issue. Living on South East London I'm all too aware of the recent spate of stabbings as they seem to all be in my area. But I think the statement from a surgeon at Royal London Hospital says it all...

"If we took the figures for 2007, we had a total of 185 injuries in the year, so far in the first half of this year we've had 140."

That speaks volumes compared to the government's 'official' figures. To illustrate just how many instances of knife crime have occurred near me this year, here's a map of knife crimes from Sky news. In the South East alone, there has been numerous reports of stabbings and knife crime and these are just the past 3 months:

• May: Peckham: Teenager Stabbed To Death.  
• May: Lee: Hunt For 'Gentle Giant' Jimmy's Killer.
• May: Deptford: Police Find 16 Weapons On One Bus. 
• June: Old Kent Road: A man has been stabbed to death near a petrol station in South East London.
• June: Southwark: Arsema Dawit Stabbing Murder.
• July: New Cross: Two French research students tied up and tortured in a "horrific" attack suffered up to 250 injuries.
• July: Thorton Heath: Five Arrested Over Teen Stabbing.
• July: Southwark: Stabbed For Wearing Wrong Uniform.

So what should the government do to combat the rise in knife crime? Install metal detectors on tubes and schools? Send anyone carrying a knife to jail? To be honest, as much as these measures may get weapons off the streets, they're not tackling why people are carrying them in the first place. Even I used to hang around in parks after school hours drinking, and admittedly we probably looked pretty menacing to the average passer by, but people now have even more reason to feel intimidated when they see a group of hoodies hanging out on a corner. The Metro even reported a rise in public sector workers requesting stab proof vests for daily use.

I know I for one won't be walking around at night on my own anymore. It wasn't safe before, but now it's just plain scary.