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Stabbings: Anonymous Text Tip-off, a Solution?
The UK is facing a stabbing epidemic according to the returns of an audit conducted at the Royal London Hospital.
Last year in the UK capital city there were 1,200 reported stabbings and nearly one third of homicides involved the use of a knife.
The Government Gets Tough on Knife Carrying
The UK government is planning to tackle this issue head-on with a range of punitive measures design to discourage the carrying of knives without good reason. There may however be another approach to consider.
Recent technology developments in the USA have enabled Crime Stoppers organisations to deploy anonymous text tip-off systems in Boston and Oklahoma. The value in these systems is that they afford the tipster a much greater degree of anonymity than previously. While technology alone cannot solve serious social problems, campaigns built around the use of technology certainly can.
A Softer Approach to Disarmament
The method used in Oklahoma certainly illustrates a different approach, contrasting sharply with official proposals which support the use of metal detectors in schools. A myspace blog, placed where students can easily find it, explains how safe the system is for the tipster and how it can be used. A link to the OKC Crime Stoppers website gives more details and also alternative methods of reporting. Back this up with a poster campaign, maybe a local radio campaign and the community has an effective system for gaining a hand hold on the knife carrying culture. Removing knives from circulation can then become more focussed.
Leading professionals in the field of criminal psychology are tending towards the belief that punitive measures aimed at knife carriers may be counterproductive. The provision of a safe means of personal action, such as anonymous reporting, is needed. Add to that improved support for those who wish to protect themselves against the threat of aggression or misguided self defence and a more productive route can be followed.
Fear of Aggression is the Key
Young people who carry knives often claim that they do so out of fear of attack. Derek Indoe, a prominent UK Consultant Clinical Psychologist is quoted in an article published by the Independant newspaper (http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/knife-uk-the-rise-of-knife-culture-422661.html) saying that there is evidence to show that these fears are increased by a perception of authority indifference regarding the levels of threat and intimidation endured by the young. They have no-one to turn to, so they equip to defend themselves.
The Image of the Knife: Perception Must Change
An advertising campaign showing fearful youngsters where to turn, backed up by a safe means of action at a personal level must be a more positive way forward.
People in fear of reprisal are unlikely to speak out against those who are perceived as aggressors. They are equally unlikely to point out to authorities those who arm themselves in misguided attempts at self defence, especially so if the same heavy penalties are applied to the unwise as are levied upon the belligerent.
The latest addition to the range of Anonymous Tip-Off systems comes from ProductiveT (www.productiveT.com) an Oklahoma based technology company. The system is client based rather than web page based for increased reliability and security and is claimed to be more cost effective than other systems.
© Copyright 2008
About the Author
Chris A Watkins is a director of ffox Software Ltd and specialises in the crafting of marketing copy. A talented creative writer who has the ability to combine good English with a choice of ‘voice’ and delivery to produce web pages and articles with clear and penetrative content. http://cawatkins.blogspot.com/ http://www.ffox.biz/Technical/mcindex.html
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