British government fearmongering campaign about knife crime disproved by figures

Matthew Weaver
London Guardian
Thursday, July 17, 2008

Despite national alarm over knife crime, the overall number of crimes is decreasing, official figures showed today.

The Home Office said the fall – equivalent to a million fewer crimes – meant the risk of being a victim of crime had fallen from 24% to 22%, the lowest level recorded since the British Crime Survey began in 1981.

The home secretary, Jacqui Smith, said: “Three years ago we set ourselves the tough challenge to reduce all crime by 15%.

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“I am extremely pleased that today’s figures show that we have exceeded this with an overall crime reduction of 18%.”

However, the figures also showed that knife crime is not confined to big cities as previously thought.

A detailed picture of the true extent of violence involving blades showed that rural police forces also had to deal with hundreds of cases.

Serious violent crimes involving a blade had previously been bundled with other attacks, but since April last year officers have recorded them separately in light of growing public concern.

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