NPIA Digest
Gun and knife crime survey March 2009
The Childrens Commissioner for England published research findings in its report Solutions to Gun and Knife Crime on March 15, 2009. This survey of more than 1,700 children and young people by 11 MILLION (the organisation led by the Childrens Commissioner for England) and YouGov reveals the level of concern children and young people have about gun and knife crime.
The key points of the research findings include:
?Knife crime: Perception versus reality
One in six young people perceive knife crime to be either a big or fairly big problem in their area. However, young people living in high-risk areas are much more likely to have a perception that knife crime is an issue in their area (26 per cent compared with an average of 15 per cent). Other findings from this section of the report were:
Young people from a black and minority ethnic background are twice as likely to state that knife crime is a problem compared with their white counterparts.
In London, the perception of knife crime as a big or fairly big problem is much greater than the national average at 36 per cent.
Only four per cent of 12 to 17-year-olds admitted carrying a knife either now or in the past and for the majority carrying was an infrequent occurrence.
The majority of current or former knife carriers were aged between 15 and 17, white and male.
Self-protection was the most common reason given for carrying a knife.
?Gun crime
The perception of gun crime as a problem is lower than knife crime. Just one per cent saw it as a big problem and a further six per cent as a fairly big problem. Other findings from this section of the report were:
The perception of gun crime was higher among young people in the high-risk areas, with 16 per cent stating gun crime was a big or fairly big problem.
In Manchester, 18 per cent stated that there was a problem with guns in their local area.
Only four respondents stated that they carry a gun or had ever carried one.
?A sense of place
While 70 per cent of young people believe that their area is a good one in which to grow up, ten per cent thought it was bad or very bad. Nearly one quarter (23 per cent) of young people living in social housing thought their area was a bad place in which to grow up. Other findings included:
Young people living in high-risk areas are more likely to consider their area unsafe compared with the average (13 per cent across the sample say their area is unsafe compared with 21 per cent in high-risk areas).
Nearly 30 per cent of young people in Birmingham do not consider their area safe.
There is a strong relationship between safety and whether young people believe their area to be a good one in which to grow up. The less safe a person feels the more likely they are to say that their area is not a good place in which to grow up.
The older the respondent the less likely they are to engage with local facilities and amenities. Over one third of 16 and 17-year-olds do not take part in local activities or clubs.
?Views on the police
A commonly-held view in society is that young people have a dislike of or resentment of the police. In reality, the response is very positive towards the police 82 per cent said they liked the police a lot or quite liked them, while 18 per cent said they did not really like them or did not like them at all. However, for 16 to 17-year-olds, the proportion saying they really like them dropped to only ten per cent. Other key points from this section were:
Nationally, 56 per cent said they see police infrequently or never. This is significant because the more a person sees the police the more likely they are to say that they are respected by them.
61 per cent of eight and nine-year-olds feel very or quite respected by the police, but the proportion of 16 and 17-year-olds saying that they feel respected halves to 30 per cent.
Most children and young people surveyed had not been stopped and searched b