Comments on The Daily (Maybe): Knives, moral panics and distraction techniques

I couldn't touch The Times as I'd probably burst i...

2008-07-08T00:14:00.000Z

I couldn't touch The Times as I'd probably burst in to flames - unlucky.

I think this point about legitimised discriminatio...

2008-07-07T15:55:00.000Z

I think this point about legitimised discrimination is crucial. Sometimes the targetting of a community can appear to have some sort of reasonable and rational basis but the long term effects can be very negative and the motivations can be more unhealthy than they first appear sometimes.

Let me take as an example a letter that appeared in the Times today (and shame on them for printing this over something, anything, else that had been submitted).

"Most violent knife crimes are being perpetrated by - and often upon - one specific subset of an underclass in British society. Isn't it time we had the courage to call a spade a spade when discussing where the risks really are?" Ben, Birmingham.

You don't have to do much of a textual analysis to see where this racist fucker is coming from.

Sorry, just read the letter and had to get that off my chest!

Douglas:Knife arches, and stop in search in genera...

2008-07-07T14:54:00.000Z

Douglas:

Knife arches, and stop in search in general, is just a form of legitimised discrimination. There have been annecdotal examples of the authorities setting up arches yet letting vast swathes of people even if they set off the arches. They are first and foremost a way of *appearing* to tackle knife crime, after all the ire of commuters is not worth risking by being thorough, and secondly they are a way of being able to legitimately stop a disproportionate amount of Black and Asian men.

If the measures they were using were actually being used properly, and if they actually did anything then they may be worth congratulating (people on the tube that come up against a knife arch can just pop in to a shop, browse for 5 minutes then go and get on the tube to the next station given the police don't have enough arches or resources to cover all stations in an area). The reality is that without resourcing the police to be able to track gangs and to be in more places to deal with them, you won't stop the current violence trends, they've been set in motion by years of societal neglect by the government and it won't take a few quick law changes or policy briefs to stop.

I liked the part of your post about ritually idoli...

2008-07-07T14:01:00.000Z

I liked the part of your post about ritually idolising "violence, wealth, image and personal satisfaction over a sense of community." David Cameron (a long time ago, not recently) talked about "a revolution in social responsibility." He was on to something. It's a very specific problem. It's knife crime in certain boroughs of London, and gun crime in certain parts of the North-West, both linked by gang violence. If we had a better articulation about why people joined gangs (why gangs provided better security than the state) and why people are more willing to shoot/stab folks than 5 years ago, we'd know more about youth violence.

Jim. Yes - build better communities. Of course. ...

2008-07-07T08:40:00.000Z

Jim. Yes - build better communities. Of course. But it would be good to reduce the number of killings now. You do not comment on knife search arches or targetted stop and search more generally.

I'd be interested to know what you think.

Douglas Coker
Enfield Green Party

PS This blog is very good. Much thought provoking material. Thank you.