Knife Crime Research Articles

The contribution of helicopter emergency medical services in the pre-hospital care of penetrating torso injuries in a semi-rural setting

BackgroundAlthough the merit of pre-hospital critical care teams such as Helicopter Emergency Medical Services (HEMS) has been universally recognized for patients with penetrating torso injuries who present with unstable physiology, the potential merit in patients initially presenting with stable physiology is largely undetermined. The ability to predict the required pre-hospital interventions patients may have important implications for HEMS tasking, especially when transport times to definitive care are prolonged.MethodsWe performed a retrospective cohort study of patients who sustained a penetrating torso injury and were attended by the Air Ambulance Kent Surrey Sussex (AAKSS) over a 6-year period. Primary outcome was defined as the percentage of patients with penetrating torso injuries requiring HEMS-specific interventions anytime between HEMS arrival and arrival at hospital. Secondary outcomes were the association of individual patient- and injury characteristics with the requirement for HEMS interventions.ResultsDuring the study period 363 patients met inclusion criteria. 90% of patients were male with a median age of 30 years. 99% of penetrating trauma incident occurred more than 10-min drive from a Major Trauma Centre (MTC). Presenting GCS was > 13 in 83% of patients. Significant hemodynamic- or ventilatory compromise was present in more than 25% of the patients. Traumatic cardiac arrest was present in 34 patients (9.4%), profound hypotension with SBP < 80 mmHg in 30 (8.3%) and oxygen saturations < 92% in 30 (8.3%). A total of 121 HEMS-specific interventions were performed. Although HEMS-specific interventions were associated with presenting physiology (TCA OR 1.75 [1.41–2.16], SBP < 80 mmHg (OR 1.40 [1.18–1.67] and SpO2 < 92% (OR 1.39 [1.17–1.65], a minority of the patients presented initially with stable physiology but deteriorated on route to hospital and required HEMS interventions (n = 9, 3.3%).ConclusionHEMS teams provide potentially important contribution to the pre-hospital treatment of patients with penetrating torso injuries in rural and semi-rural areas, especially when they present with unstable physiology. A certain degree of over-triage is inevitable in these patients, as it is hard to predict which patients will deteriorate on route to hospital and will need HEMS interventions. The results of this study showing a potentially predictable geographical dispersion of penetrating trauma could inform multi-agency knife crime prevention strategy.

‘The Usual Suspects’: Knife Crime Prevention Orders and the ‘Difficult’ Regulatory Subject

Abstract Knife Crime Prevention Orders (KCPOs) were introduced by the Offensive Weapons Act 2019 with the stated aim of providing additional tools for police to use in combatting increasing rates of knife crime in England and Wales. This article situates KCPOs within a continuous policy trend of procedural hybridization, and highlights the worrying manner in which such criminalization, underpinned by a preventive logic and facilitated by this hybrid procedure, enables new forms of ‘othering’. Drawing a threefold distinction within the concept of the regulatory subject—the responsible, the rational/virtuous and the difficult/other—it argues that preventive hybrids generate a self-fulfilling category of ‘difficult’ subjects, while simultaneously denying them the procedural protections normally afforded to the responsible subject of classical criminal law.

Understanding Knife Crime and Trust in Police with Young People in East London

We explore young people’s experiences and perceptions of knife crime, and we compare these to the understanding of police experts, to explore the perceptions shaping trust in the police and policing. We carry out an experience sampling survey deployed using a mobile application reflecting on safety and knife crime, to understand young people’s daily lived experiences. We then use the mental models approach to interview young people and police experts and construct a shared mental model which identifies mismatches between the two groups and key areas of discord related to breakdown of trust and communication. We identify gaps, misconceptions and expectations for re-establishing trust and propose strategies to tackle knife crime and improve trust between young people and the police.

Understanding Knife Crime and Trust in Police with Young People in East London

We explore young people’s experiences and perceptions of knife crime, and we compare these to the understanding of police experts, to explore the perceptions shaping trust in the police and policin...

Protect the protectors: a qualitative study on OSH in conjunction with unwanted side effects for the work performance of frontline police officers

Objectives. Occupational safety and health (OSH) measures for frontline police officers are developing rapidly in many western societies. Various organizations, such as police forces and unions, view this development as necessary in the face of increasing numbers of assaults, knife crime, rampages and terrorist attacks. Also, current research seems to promote a progressive aggregation of OSH focusing on frontline officers on the beat. This article aims to explore possible side effects of the current development, based on a recent qualitative small-scale research project with the participation of 12 highly experienced frontline police constables in Hampshire, England, all having around 24 years of service. Methods. As a clearly explorative study, semi-structured interviews were deployed. While using inductive theorizing and understanding the participating police constables as humans at work, the identification and collection of inner context components such as the participants’ perceptions, motivations, emotions, beliefs, values or attitudes have been intentionally put at front. Conclusions. Particularly, emphasizing individual risk assessment and risk perception, current research has identified that an organizational over-reliance on standardized risk management processes might trigger police officers’ risk averseness, overall leading to a habitual over-worrying about things and bringing safety culture and occupational cop culture into disagreement.

PROTOCOL: Police stops to reduce crime: A systematic review.

PROTOCOL: Police stops to reduce crime: A systematic review.

The rising burden of penetrating knife injuries

IntroductionKnife crime remains an area of public health concern. In order to tackle this problem and reduce its burden, the epidemiology of penetrating knife injuries needs to be understood. The...

Gen Z is not alone: Generation knife crime and the covid-19 epidemic crisis.

Gen Z is not alone: Generation knife crime and the covid-19 epidemic crisis.

Victims, offenders and victim-offender overlaps of knife crime: A social network analysis approach using police records.

Knife crime is a source of concern for the police in England and Wales, however little published research exists on this crime type. Who are the offenders who use knives to commit crime, when and why? Who are their victims, and is there a victim-offender overlap? What is the social network formation for people who are exposed to knife crime? Using a multidimensional approach, our aim is to answer these questions about one of England and Wales’ largest jurisdictions: Thames Valley. We first provide a state-of-the-art narrative review of the knife crime literature, followed by an analysis of population-level data on central tendency and dispersion of knife crimes reported to the police (2015–2019), on offences, offenders, victims, victim-offender overlaps and gang-related assaults. Social network analysis was used to explore the formations of offender-victim networks. Our findings show that knife crime represents a small proportion of crime (1.86%) and is associated largely with violence offenses. 16–34 year-old white males are at greatest risk of being the victims, offenders or victim-offenders of knife crime, with similar relative risks between these three categories. Both knife offenders and victims are likely to have a criminal record. Knife crimes are usually not gang-related (less than 20%), and experienced mostly between strangers, with the altercation often a non-retaliatory ‘one-off event’. Even gang-related knife crimes do not follow ‘tit-for-tat’ relationships—except when the individuals involved have extensive offending histories and then are likely to retaliate instantaneously. We conclude that while rare, an incident of knife crime remains predicable, as a substantial ratio of offenders and victims of future knife crime can be found in police records. Prevention strategies should not be focused on gang-related criminals, but on either prolific violent offenders or repeat victims who are known to the police—and therefore more susceptible to knife crime exposure.

Penetrating maxillofacial trauma – a three year review of epidemiology and injury at a level 1 trauma centre

Introduction: King's College Hospital is a Level 1 trauma centre serving an inner-city area with a high incidence of knife and gun violence. The hospital also forms the hub for the SELKAM (South East London, Kent and Medway) trauma network. A total of 15,023 knife crime offences were recorded in London in the year to June 2019 – the highest on record.

제약된 상황에서의 칼(Knife) 범죄 대응 교육 방안 : 비숙련자의 칼(Knife) 공격 및 대응 패턴 분석을 기반으로

제약된 상황에서의 칼(Knife) 범죄 대응 교육 방안 : 비숙련자의 칼(Knife) 공격 및 대응 패턴 분석을 기반으로

RCN Nurse of the Year 2020: using CPR sessions to tackle the youth knife crime epidemic

Award-winner Ana Waddington set up the YourStance outreach programme to educate vulnerable young people, as well as healthcare professionals

On a knife edge: A preliminary investigation of clothing damage using rounded-tip knives

Bladed weapons are frequently encountered in violent crime offences including street based and armed robberies, murder, sexual assaults and terrorism. A study was conducted involving four frequently encountered clothing fabrics: t-shirt (knitted cotton), denim jeans (twill woven cotton), long sleeved top (knitted synthetic blend), and skirt (non-woven faux leather) and five knives to investigate any damage resulting from a downward stabbing motion, with 300 stabs in total. Any resultant penetrating severance damage was then photographed, measured and analysed. Statistical analysis revealed significant differences between the stab hole size and shape, as a consequence of the design of a bladed weapon (in particular, the tip shape) that caused it. There is a notable correlation between the Assure knife (rounded tip) and no resulting severance damage, as the fabric surfaces were not breached with this knife. This suggests a clear alternative to pointed tip knife blades. These findings will be of interest to investigators of knife crime offences, crime-reduction units, knife manufacturers and practitioners, who share the goal of identifying a safer alternative to conventional knife blade design.

Promoting a Safe Environment in Our Cities: Towards a Theoretical Model of "Moral Deficit" for Appropriate Psychopathic Therapy.

The increasing reported incidents of knife crime in cities and the release on parole of “rehabilitated” violent criminals are creating an unsafe urban environment. Such occurrences suggest that measures taken to address psychopathic-oriented behaviour may have been ineffective because the individual’s degree of “moral deficit” is not fully accounted for in the application of specific therapies. This study developed a theoretical model of “moral deficit” that is aligned with the appropriateness of therapy, ranging from the extreme “classical approach” of total confinement justified by a belief in the incurability of psychopaths to the modern therapy that aims to reintegrate the psychopath with society using “moralizing therapy”. Analysis of secondary data from extant literature was used to develop the theoretical model of “moral deficit”. Secondary data analysis suggests that the extent of psychopathic “moral deficit” may be an important factor in the selection of appropriate therapeutic measures for psychopathy treatment and the rehabilitation of psychopaths as law-abiding members of society. We conclude that a specific type of psychopathic moral deficit may have an important bearing on the appropriateness of treatment. It is recommended that the treatment of psychopathy makes greater provision for the extent and type of psychopathic “moral deficit” in assessing the most appropriate applications for the treatment of psychopathy and promoting the safety of urban environments.

Countering network poverty as a precursor to gang membership: bridging and social capital through temporary migration research and practice

Purpose This paper aims to disseminate previous street gang research by Hesketh (2018) and the ongoing practice of Box (2015) in countering network poverty as a precursor to gang membership through bridging/social mixing. Findings The findings draw attention to the considerable amount of research, media reports and government policy that has intensified and pathologised the issue of gang membership and its causes in the UK. Moreover, they identify the effects of marginalisation and limited opportunity as the main protagonists and highlight how young disenfranchised people some more resilient than others cope with growing up in areas void of legitimate life choices and positive networks. In particular, the study finds evidence that bridging and the resulting social mixing as a result of temporary migration was highly significant in the decision to conform, desist or abstain from gang membership. Research limitations/implications Liverpool study involved males only (need to examine females within the Merseyside area) although London practice addresses both young men and women. The paper highlights the impact of bridging as an intervention in countering network poverty and friendship networks restricted to marginalised environments, leaving many young people vulnerable to gang involvement, knife and youth crime. Practical implications Impact of bridging on young people in the development of good social capital is as follows: it highlights actual practice of findings in deterring young people away from gangs and criminality; it highlights the need for more interventions aimed at bridging communities; and it identifies the need for interventions around young disenfranchised people (social intelligence). Social implications The evidence suggests that interventions involving bridging both internally and externally can be instrumental in developing policy that aims to deter young people away from street crime. Originality/value The paper attempts to provide originality in highlighting a process that has not been fully implemented within current policy involving young disenfranchised people, gangs and violence.

Police Role In The Effort Management And Control The Fight Between Youth In Making Public Order In The Blora Regency

Group fights criminal acts defined as crimes of violence together as provided for in Article 170 of the Criminal Code. Data from Blora Regency police indicate that a fight between youth always the case in every year in the Blora Regency. This study aims to determine the role of the police in handling and overcoming a fight between youth, barriers and solutions in realizing the public order in Blora. The method used is the juridical sociological, descriptive analytical research specifications. The data used are primary data and secondary data, while the data collection method is field studies and literature. Using data analysis methods of qualitative analysis. The analysis used as knife crime prevention theory, theory and the theory of the role of law enforcement. The results showed that the role of the police in handling and overcoming a fight between youth in realizing the public order in Blora is through the efforts of non penal (preventive) and attempts penal (repressive). Barriers arising in the treatment and prevention of fights between youth to realize the public order in Blora is the number of police personnel limited, the police difficult to present witnesses so that not all the perpetrators can be arrested, the third party to interfere in the settlement of the problem, and the lack of awareness Public.Keywords: Role; National Police; Prevention; Fights Between Youth.

Tech Tackles Violent Crime

KNIFE CRIME offences in the UK rose by 7 per cent in the 12 months to the end of June 2019, reaching a record high. It's a worrying trend, both in itself and because it makes people feel less safe on the streets. But there are advanced technological solutions to halting attacks, including the use of controversial predictive policing tools.

An Introduction to Gangs and Serious Youth Violence in the United Kingdom

This article introduces the special issue on UK gangs and youth violence. Written to coincide with the launch of the National Centre for Gang Research at the University of West London, this collection adds the voices of academics who have spent years researching serious violence to a conversation dominated by policymakers and media commentators. The authors examine trends in youth violence and offer a brief history of UK gang research before previewing the contribution of the seven empirical articles dealing with police gang databases, knife crime, county lines drug dealing, contextual safeguarding, offender mental health, gang disengagement and criminal desistance.

Getting to the Point? Reframing Narratives on Knife Crime

Amid rising public concern of knife-enabled crime, this article seeks to review and reframe the contemporary debates on knife crime which remain tied to concepts of fear, protection and fashion. Concepts of social field theory and street capital theory have much to offer in reframing a more contemporary narrative. Through such analysis, knife crime can be redefined as a logical response to the unpredictable asymmetrics of the social field, offering mechanisms for agency and control while providing both a pressure release and opportunity to demonstrate authenticity in ‘The Game’.

Procedural justice, compliance with the law and police stop-and-search: a study of young people in England and Scotland

ABSTRACT The policing of young people, especially through stop-and-search, has been rigorously debated in the context of rising violence in the UK. While concepts based on procedural justice theory and perceptions of police fairness are directly relevant to these debates, these have rarely been tested on young people, nor have they taken account of the impact of stop-and-search. This paper examines young people’s experiences of stop-and-search in two Scottish and two English cities, and tests the relationship between these experiences, their trust in the police, their perceptions of police legitimacy and their compliance with the law. The study finds that Scottish adolescents, who experienced higher volume stop-and-search, had more negative attitudes to the police and perceived them to be less procedurally fair than English adolescents. Structural equation modelling confirms that principles of procedural justice theory do apply to young people in this UK sample. However, our findings suggest that stop-and-search may damage trust in the police and perceptions of police legitimacy, regardless of the volume of police stop-and-search, and this may result in increased offending behaviour. With ongoing calls to increase the use of stop-and-search in response to recent increases in knife crime in England, we argue that its use needs to be carefully balanced against the, as yet poorly evidenced, benefits of the use of the tactic.