According to the media we are in the grip of a knife crime epidemic. This may be true, but contrary to newspapers like the Daily Mail, there is no hard statistical evidence. Official figures support the view that knife crime is on the increase but the British Crime Survey - arguably a more accurate source of data - shows a drop in violent crime.
A recent edition of a journal published by the Sussex Police Force includes an article about an operation that took place at a nightclub in Bognor Regis. Over 1000 people were searched as they entered the club and not a single knife was found. In fact the only illegal article discovered was a small amount of cannabis.
I know that Bognor isn't the Bronx, but as anyone in Sussex will tell you, it's not the sort of place you'd want to wander around on a Friday night. Bognor's the sort of town where they sell cards that say 'Happy 30th Birthday - Granny'. You'd certainly expect the local lads to be 'tooled-up'.
Sadly, stories like this will never make it to the national newspapers because it doesn't fit in with the narrative of a country descending into lawlessness.
The Guardian went to town on it the other day. I got a little bit scared, to be honest. So thank you for this sensible article reporting good news.
ReplyDelete