Star comment: Menace of knife crime must end
The shocking death of James Brindley – stabbed through the heart on the street in Aldridge five days ago – must lead to renewed efforts to stem the tide of rising knife crime here in the Black Country.
There have now been six fatal knife attacks in the first six months of this year and the latest figures from West Midlands Police show a horrifying escalation in knife crime on our streets to its highest level in five years.
It is unacceptable that ordinary people like 26-year-old Mr Brindley, who died in his parents’ arms, are not safe on our streets because of the rising number prepared to go out armed with knives and blades of all kinds and prepared to use them at the slightest provocation.
His murder brings into sharp focus just how out of control the situation has become.
West Midlands Police insists this area is still safe to live in and visit, but the statistics that we reveal today question that.
Every effort needs to be taken to sweep this scourge of knife crime off our streets – before even more innocent lives are lost.
It is clear though that the police alone cannot put a stop to the hundreds of knife attacks that are blighting the Black Country each year.
The whole of our society needs to come together to answer the question of what can be done to stop knives being routinely carried, primarily by young men, in public.
It needs parents, politicians, teachers and licensees to work with the police to find a way to get the message over that carrying a blade is not acceptable and will not be tolerated.
Despite numerous high-profile campaigns in the West Midlands in recent years, including the Precious Lives project and knife amnesties using surrender bins, that message has not been heeded.
New answers are needed and with knife crime still on the rise across the UK there must be a national conversation that puts a priority on reducing and ultimately eliminating the menace of knives from our streets.
