Posts of knives on social media are being used as an intelligence source about what weapons are being carried in some parts of London. That may lead to young people getting hold of more dangerous weapons and knives, seeking to protect themselves.
That’s been raised by the Young People’s Action Group, which is working with the Mayor of London’s Violence Reduction Unit (VRU). Researchers – led by University College London (UCL) – aim to investigate the effect that images of knives have on young people’s perceptions of safety in London, how much knife carrying is going on; and the fears and attitudes of seeing images of knives posted online. The research, due to be published by the end of March, will examine perceptions and young people’s response to knife imagery.
It will complement and provide a specific context to research commissioned by the Scottish Violence Reduction Unit (whose director Niven Rennie spoke at the ST21 Glasgow event last summer and was featured in the November 2021 print edition of Professional Security magazine), and other research led by Sheffield Hallam University, commissioned by South Yorkshire and Thames Valley VRUs. The police forces in those two regions no longer publish images of knives on their social media accounts for fear that they are making the public more, not less, worried about knife crime.
Tyrell Davis-Douglin, of the VRU’s Young People’s Action Group, said: “We want to support young Londoners and uplift our communities to a place of mass empowerment and opportunity. The Young People’s Action Group wants to investigate the impact of police posting images of large knives recovered in our local communities. What we have heard from other empowered young women and men is that posting images of knives on social media platforms creates a sense of fear – there are better way to achieve the goal of removing dangerous weapons and reducing violence.”
And Lib Peck, Director of London’s VRU, said: “We’ve listened to the views and opinions of our Young People’s Action Group and those engaged in our programmes, and they have made it clear that posting images of knives seized by the police often heightens the sense of fear in our communities and could lead to young people choosing to carry a knife for their own protection. We champion the voice of young people and that’s why we are supporting them by commissioning research to better inform the debate about knife imagery and ongoing decisions about posting images of seizures on social media.”
See also Niven Rennie’s thoughts on 2021 on the SVRU website.
Pictured: City Hall.
