Posted on 07/10/2006 2:15:33 AM PDT by managusta
One of the region's top cops has called for a ban on pointed blades so that they cannot be used as lethal weapons.
The Chief Constable of Northumbria police Mike Craik said he would like to see implements like kitchen knives only being sold with rounded ends to make them safer.
He explained: "You rarely get victims who are sliced to death . . . they are usually stabbed.
"So, the problem is pointed knives. If you ask chefs how many times they need to use pointed knives they'll tell you they don't need them at all."
Mr Craik spoke out after backing the Sunday Sun's `No To Knives' campaign.
We want anybody convicted of carrying a knife or bladed weapon in public without lawful excuse to face an immediate jail sentence.
Mr Craik agreed that the justice system should be much tougher, and said it would give an incentive for his officers to carry out more stop and searches of those suspected of carrying a weapon.
He said: "As a police force we can do our bit and as long as the justice system use their sentencing powers and give meaningful sanctions then we can make a difference.
"I can increase stop and searches and arrests for carrying knives but without help from the justice system to create a deterrent that is not going to be productive.
"Carrying a knife is like getting caught carrying a gun . . . there has to be a sanction that reflects the seriousness of what you are doing. This is why I'm backing the Sunday Sun's campaign."
Northumbria Police have now joined Cleveland and Cumbria in backing the campaign.
Durham Police chief John Stoddart and North Yorkshire top cop Della Cannings have so far refused to get behind it.
According to Mr Craik, it is far too easy to obtain a knife or other bladed weapon and he questioned why there are so many so-called hunting knives on sale when there are not that many people who actually hunt.
He said: "Why are shops allowed to sell samurai swords or hunting knives to the public? I don't know anyone who uses a hunting knife, so why are there so many of them on sale?"
He dismissed suggestions that the clamour against knives is a knee-jerk reaction to a spate of recent stabbings in the region, including that of charity health worker Ashleigh Ewing and Carie Burns.
Ashleigh died on a home visit to a patient in Heaton, Newcastle, while Carie was killed with a samurai sword in Consett, County Durham.
Mr Craik said: "There is a realisation among the public that there is a real risk and that kids, particularly young males, are at the greatest risk.
"The current concern about knives is an emotional reaction to the risk to our children.
"This is why a deterrent sanction will make a difference . . . but we haven't got that at the moment.
"If the only issue to tougher sanctions is the capacity of prisons then there are ways of achieving this. For instance, if you have people jailed for non-payment of fines then get them out and create capacity that way.
"But even tougher sentencing will not make the problem disappear.
"It's about reducing the risk and managing it as effectively as we can.
"As a police force all we can do is make our opinion known and be willing to help reduce the incidence of knife crime."
I will give up my Old Timer when they take it from this old timers cold dead fingers!
Illegal to carry a pointy bladed knife? Get yourself a meat cleaver,a hatchet or a battery powered chain saw.
Pointed heads are the most dangerous weapons around today, especially if those pointy heads are on top of top cops.
Point not needed, just hone the blunt end to razor sharp, lung with it sideways and slip it between the ribs.
"Well what about pointed sticks?"
Getting all high and mighty are we?
Ya just had to post that picture didn't ya? Now what little blood was reaching this old dudes brain has rushed off to parts it hasn't visited in years.
I refuse to use some cheap, blunt Wal-Mart wannabe-knife.
Ya can't make this stuff up.
Watch out. Fire hardened (Google "fire hardened" for the process) pointy sticks will upgrade the crime to a felony.
Either that or kevlar underware.
And ballpoint pins and screwdrivers.
He explained: "You rarely get victims who are sliced to death . . . they are usually stabbed.
Freedom of speech doesn't bother us.
It is the absurdity of someone actually HAVING this opinion, and the fact that he has, somehow, become a senior police official that is disturbing.
Its almost as bad as continually electing a fat drunken moron like Ted Kennedy to the Senate...
'Freedom of speech doesn't bother us.
It is the absurdity of someone actually HAVING this opinion, and the fact that he has, somehow, become a senior police official that is disturbing.'
Well, what happens is this; each year all the police are assessed and the dopiest ones are promoted to Chief Constable so we can keep an eye on them and it also keeps them away from the HK MP5's. . . . . :D
Yes, but she's not impressed by big weapons. . . . .
Being British, perhaps she's never encountered one. ;^)
"victims who defend themselves against an attacker can be jailed for defending themselves."
Is this really true or is it an urban legend?
It seems hard to believe that if someone comes after you with a knife that you could be in trouble for fighting back.
They will get to these, just give them time.
They can only work on one thing at a time. First guns, then knives when they get those they will move to the next on the list.
Kinda like the degenerates over here. First legitimize and legalize homosexual conduct. Then legalize two men or two women "marrying" each other. When you get these, start working making it legal for adults to have sexual relations with children, no matter how young the child is, or how old the adult is. These are already in the works in the United States.
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