suicide

Suicide - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
SuicideLatinsui caedere
, to kill oneself) is the act of intentionally terminating ones own life. Suicide occurs for a number of reasons such as depressionsubstance abuseshame, avoiding pain, financial difficulties or other undesirable situations.Views on suicide have been influenced by cultural views on existential themes such as religionhonormeaning of life. Most Western and Asian religionsthe Abrahamic religionsBuddhismHinduismconsider suicide a dishonorable act; in the West it was regarded as a serious crimeoffenseGod due to religious belief in the sanctity of lifeJapanese views on honor and religion led to seppuku being respected as a means to atone for mistakes or failure during the samurai era; Japanese suicides rates remain some of the developed worlds highest. In the 20th century suicide in the form of self-immolation has been used as a form of protest, and in the form of kamikazesuicide bombing as a military or terrorist tactic.assisted suicideeuthanasiaright to dieethical issue involving people who are
terminally illpainquality of lifeillnessSelf-sacrifice
for others is not usually considered suicide, as the goal is not to kill oneself but to save another.The predominant view of modern medicine is that suicide is a mental health concern, associated with psychological factors such as the difficulty of coping with depressionsufferingfearmental disorders and pressures. Suicide is sometimes interpreted in this framework as a cry for help and attentiondespair and the wish to escape, rather than a genuine intent to die. Most suicides (for various reasons) do not succeed on a first attempt; those who later gain a history of repetitions are significantly more at risk of eventual completion.Nearly a million people worldwide die by suicide annually. There are an estimated 10 to 20 million attempted suicides every year. As many as 60,000 people commit suicide in Russia approximately 30,000 people die by suicide each year in the United States over 30,000 kill themselves in Japan and about 250,000 commit suicide each year in China While rates of committed suicides are higher in men, Women“>women have higher rates for suicide attempts. Elderly males have the highest suicide rate, although rates for young adults have been increasing in recent years. The countries of the former Soviet Blocsuicide rate The region with the lowest suicide rate is Latin America Up to at least the 1950s, it was the Republic of Ireland which had the lowest suicide rate in the world, as reported by an Irish TV news report in 2007. In India, suicide rates for Women“>women are nearly three times higher than those for men. Higher suicide rates among Women“>women have been reported in Chinamedical term for thoughts about suicide, which may range from vague or unformed urges to meticulously detailed plans and posthumous instructions. The condition requires professional intervention to determine its extent, including the presence of a suicide plan and the patients means to commit suicide. Severe suicidal ideation is a medical emergency requiring immediate treatment.Many suicidal people engage in suicidal activities that do not result in death. These activities fall under the clinical designation of parasuicide. Those with a history of such attempts are almost 23 times more likely to eventually end their own lives than those who dont participate in such activities.Sometimes, a person will make actions resembling suicide attempts while not being fully committed. This is called a Prototypical methods might be a non-lethal method of self-harm that leaves obvious signs of the attempt, or simply a lethal action at a time when the person considers it likely that he/she will be rescued or prevented from fully carrying it out.On the other hand, a person who genuinely wishes to die may fail, due to lack of knowledge about what they are doing, unwillingness to try methods that may end in permanent damage if he fails or harms others, or an unanticipated rescue, among other reasons. There is a conflict, whereby a genuinely suicidal person can be desperate enough to want to end their life but at the same time, too afraid to go through with the extreme measures that are needed to guarantee success. There is also a difference in genders, with men tending to try extremely dangerous, physical methods as opposed to Women“>women who tend to use methods such as overdosing etc. which is less frightening but less successful. It may be incorrect to state that a person who survived an overdose was issuing a cry for help when in reality it was a suicide attempt that simply failed. This highlights a basic fact that it is not easy to kill oneself in a way that is not traumatic or painful, hence the phenomenon of assisted suicides. This is referred to as a suicide attemptDistinguishing between a suicide attempt and a suicidal gesture may be difficult. Intent and motivation are not always fully discernible since so many people in a suicidal state are genuinely conflicted over whether they wish to end their lives. One approach, assuming that a sufficiently strong suicide intent will ensure success, considers all near-suicides to be suicidal gestures. This, however, does not explain why so many people who fail at suicide end up with severe injuries, often permanent, which are most likely undesirable to those who are making a suicidal gesture. (See: self-harming.) Another possibility is those wishing merely to make a suicidal gesture may end up accidentally killing themselves, perhaps by underestimating the lethality of the method chosen or by overestimating the possibility of external intervention by others. Suicide-like acts should generally be treated as seriously as possible, because if there is an insufficiently strong reaction from loved ones from a suicidal gesture, this may motivate future and ultimately more committed attempts.In the technical literature the use of the terms deliberate are preferred both of these terms avoid the question of the intent of the actions.A suicide being attempted, or a situation in which a person is seriously contemplating suicide or has strong suicidal thoughts, is considered by public safety authorities to be a medical emergencysuicide interventionA written message left by someone who attempts, or indeed dies by, suicide is known as a suicide note. The practice is fairly common, occurring in approximately one out of three suicides in the United States.[2] Motivations for leaving a note range from seeking closure with loved ones, to exacting revenge against others by blaming them for the decision. It may also contain a few sentences apologizing to those they may have left. Most suicide notes are hand-written, and also often left with a few personal possessions.Para-suicidality is a psychiatric term that refers to a suicidal gesture that is a marker for histrionic behavior, or even overt attention seeking. Para-suicidality is typically associated with Borderline personality disorder, psychotic Depression“>depression, and/or mania.People sometimes fake suicide, usually in order to escape legal, financial, or relationship difficulties and start a new life. In order to explain the absence of a body, it is common to fake suicide by drowning. The term pseudocide covers not only fake suicide, but other fake deaths too (primarily fake murder). There have been numerous cases of celebrity suicides that have been challenged as possible homicides. Among the most famous were the 1962 drug overdose death of Marilyn MonroeKurt CobainAnna Nicole Smith, as well as the 1949 death of James ForrestalIndividuals who wish to end their own life may enlist the assistance of another person to achieve death, e.g. by a deadly poison. The other person, usually a family member or physician, may help carry out the act if the individual lacks the physical capacity to do so even with the supplied means. According to different moral views, this may not be considered a form of suicide. The assistant may think of it as acting in behalf of the individual, perhaps to end suffering, while opponents regard it as akin to murder. Assisted suicide is a contentious moral and political issue in many countries.The motivation for the murder in murder-suicide can be purely criminal in nature or be perceived by the perpetrator as an act of care for loved ones in the context of severe Depression“>depression. The severely depressed person may see the world as a terrible place and can feel that they are helping those they care about by removing them from it. Thoughts like this are generally regarded as a medical emergencysuicide interventionSince crime just prior to suicide is often perceived as being without consequences, it is not uncommon for suicide to be linked with homicide. Motivations may range from guilt to evading punishment, insanity, part of a suicide pact, or exacting revenge on those whom they feel are responsible.A suicide attack is when an attacker perpetrates an act of violence against others, typically to achieve a military or political goal, that foreseeably results in his or her own death as well. Suicide bombings have been prominent in the news in recent years. Other historical examples include the assassination of Tsar Alexander IIkamikaze attacks by Japanese air pilots during the Second World WarSelf-harm is not a suicide attempt; however, initially self-injury was classified as a suicide attempt. There is a non-causal correlation between self-harm and suicide; both are most commonly a joint effectdepression. A common misconception is that self-injurers are suicidal. Self-injury is an attempt to cope with life and continue livingfirearms are readily available, many suicides involve the use of firearms. Over 55 of suicides that occurred in the United States in 2001 were by firearm.Asphyxiationhangingpoisoningoverdose) are fairly common as well. Each comprised about 20 of suicides in the US during the same time period. Other methods of suicide include blunt force trauma (jumping from a building or bridge, or stepping in front of a train, for example), exsanguination or bloodletting (slitting ones wrist or throat), intentional drowning, self-immolationelectrocution, car collision and intentional starvationdocumentary film tells the story of 24 people who committed suicide and their families responses. All the suicides took place at San FranciscoGolden Gate BridgeSuicide poses a conundrum to sociobiologists: Why would one choose to eliminate oneself from the gene pool Sociobiologists debate the ultimate adaptive advantage of suicidality, while at a proximate level of animal behaviour, no single factor has gained acceptance as a universal cause of suicide. Depressionphenomenon amongst those who die by suicide.Other factors that may be related are as follows (note that this is not meant as a comprehensive list, but rather as a summary of notable causes):Studies show a high incidence of psychiatric disorders in suicide victims at the time of their death with the total figure ranging from 98mood disorderssubstance abuse being the two most common. In schizophrenia suicide can be triggered by either the Depression“>depression that is common with this disorder, or in response to command auditory hallucinations. Suicide among people suffering from bipolar disorder is often an impulse, which is due to the sufferers extreme mood swings (one of the main symptoms of bipolar disorder). Severe Depression“>depression is considered a terminal illness due to the likelihood of suicide when left untreated.According to official statistics, about a million people die by suicide annually, more than those murdered or killed in war. As of 2001 in the USA, suicides outnumber homicides by 3 to 2 and deaths from AIDSGender and suicidemales die much more often than females by suicide, while females attempt suicide more often; this has been true for at least a century. Some medical professionals believe this is due to the fact that males are more likely to end their life through violent means (guns, knives, hanging, etc.), while Women“>women primarily overdose on medications or use other methods which may be less likely to result in death; again, this has been the case for at least a century.Others ascribe the difference to inherent differences in male/female psychology. Greater social stigma against male Depression“>depression and a lack of social networks of support and help with Depression“>depression is often identified as a key reason for mens disproportionately higher level of suicides, since suicide as a cry for help is not seen as an equally viable option by men. Typically males die from suicide 3 to 4 times as often as females, and not unusually 5 or more times as often.Excess male mortality from suicide is also evident from data from non-western countries. In 197981, 74 territories reported one or more cases of suicides. Two of these reported equal rates for both sexes: SeychellesKenya. Three territories reported female rates exceeding male rates: Papua New GuineaMacauFrench Guiana. The remaining 69 territories had male suicide rates greater than female suicide rates.Barraclough found that the female rates of those aged 514 equaled or exceeded the male rates only in 14 countries, mainly in South AmericaAsiaNational suicide rates sometimes tend to be stable. For example, the 1975 rates for Australia, Denmark, England, France, Norway, and Switzerland, were within 3.0 per 100,000 of population from the 1875 rates. The rates in 191014 and in 1960 differed less than 2.5 per 100,000 of the population in Australia, Belgium, Denmark, England and Wales, Ireland, Japan, New Zealand, Norway, Scotland, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, and the Netherlands.There are considerable differences between national suicide rates. Findings from two studies showed a range from 0 to more than 40 suicides per 100,000 of population.National suicide rates, apparently universally, show a long-term upward trend. This trend has been well-documented in European countries. The trend for national suicide rates to rise slowly over time might be an indirect result of the gradual reduction in deaths from other causes, i.e. falling death rates from causes other than suicide uncover a previously hidden predisposition towards suicide. There may also be an explanation in the reduced stigma attached to survivors as suicide is no longer a crime or a sin. This may allow coroners to record more suicides as such and so increase stats.Ethnic groups and suicide: In the USA, Asian-Americans are more likely to die by suicide than any other ethnic group. Caucasians die by suicide more often than African Americans do. This is true for both genders. Non-Hispanic Caucasians are nearly 2.5 times more likely to kill themselves than are African Americans or HispanicsAge and suicide: In the USA, males over 70 die by suicide more often than younger males. There is no such trend for females. Older non-Hispanic Caucasian men are much more likely to kill themselves than older men or Women“>women of any other group, which contributes to the relatively high suicide rate among Caucasians.Season and suicide: People die by suicide more often during spring and summer. The idea that suicide is more common during the winter holidays (including Christmasnorthern hemisphere) is a common misconception. There is also potential risk of suicide in some people experiencing Seasonal affective disorderHeroic suicide, for the greater good of others, is often celebrated. For instance, Mahatma Gandhihunger strike to prevent fighting between HindusMuslims, and, although he was stopped before dying, it appeared he would have willingly succumbed to starvation. This attracted attention to Gandhis cause, and generated a great deal of respect for him as a spiritual leader. In the 1960s, BuddhistmonksThch Qung cSouthVietnamWestern attention to their protests against President
Ng nh Dimburning themselves to deathQuakerNorman Morrisonself-immolation
to protest the United States involvement in the Vietnam War. Similar events were reported during the
Cold Wareastern EuropeRyszard SiwiecJan PalachJan ZajcSovietCzechoslovakiaRomas Kalanta
s self-immolation in the main street of KaunasLithuania in 1972. More recently, in 2006, an American anti-war activist, Malachi Ritscher, died by suicide by self-immolation as a protest against the Iraq“>Iraq war. In Ireland there exists a long tradition of hunger strike to the death against British rule, predominantly in Northern Ireland during the infamous 1981 hunger strikes, led by Bobby Sands, which resulted in 10 deaths. The period caused international outrage as shown, for example, by the Indian parliament standing for two minutes of silence or, more bemusingly, the Iranian government renaming the street in Tehran on which the British Embassy stands to Bobby Sands Street, named after the first hunger-striker to die in 1981. Before the Republic of Ireland got its independence there were also examples of hunger striking, such as Terence McSwiney in Cork. Critics may see such suicides as counter-productive, arguing that these people would probably achieve a comparable or greater result by spending the rest of their lives in active struggle. This is a contentious issue, especially when one considers that the Northern Ireland hunger strikers who died trying to obtain certain prisoners rights (e.g. POW status, right to wear own clothes, right not to have to work, etc.) actually had nearly all their requests eventually granted in the years after the spate of 1981 hunger strikes happened.Sometimes a person who has committed a crime will commit suicide to avoid prosecution and disgrace:In the desperate final days of World War IIJapanesekamikaze missions in an attempt to forestall defeat for the Empire. In Nazi Germany, many soldiers and government officials (including Adolf Hitler and many in his inner circle) killed themselves rather than surrender to Allied forces; Luftwaffe squadrons were formed to smash into AmericanB-17s during daylight bombing missions, in order to delay the highly-probable Allied victory, although in this case, inspiration was primarily the Soviet and Polish taranramming attacks, and death of the pilot was not a desired outcome. The degree to which such a pilot was engaging in a heroic, selfless action or whether they faced immense social pressure is a matter of historical debate. The Japanese also built one-man human torpedosubmarinesHowever, suicide has been fairly common in warfare throughout history. Soldiers and civilians committed suicide to avoid capture and slavery (including the wave of German and Japanese suicides in the last days of World War II). Commanders committed suicide rather than accept defeat. Spies and officers have often committed suicide to avoid revealing secrets under interrogationtorture. Behaviour that could be seen as suicidal occurred often in battle, for instance a soldier falling on a grenade to save his comrades. Other examples include soldiers under cannonBattle of Waterloo who took fatal hits rather than duck and place their comrades in harms way.
Charge of the Light BrigadeCrimean WarPicketts ChargeGettysburgAmerican Civil War
, and the charge of the French cavalry at the Battle of SedanFranco-Prussian War were assaults that continued even after it was obvious to participants that the attacks were unlikely to succeed and would probably be fatal to most of the attackers. Japanese infantrymen usually fought to the last man, launched banzai suicide charges, and suicided during the Pacific island battles in World War II. In SaipanOkinawa, civilians joined in the suicides. Suicidal attacks by pilots were common in the 20th century: the attack by U.S. torpedo planesBattle of MidwaykamikazeRitual suicide is the act of suicide motivated by a religious, spiritual, or traditional ritual.An extreme interpretation of Hindu custom historically practiced, mostly in the 2nd millennium, was self-immolation by a widow as an assurance that she will be with her husband for the next life. Other rituals of self-immolation or self-starvation were used by HinduJainBuddhist monks for religious or philosophical purposes, or as a form of extreme non-violent protest. In China, some groups would practice suicide for similar reasons. In Japan, rituals of suicide like seppukuIt is estimated that an average of six people are suicide survivors for each suicide that occurs in the United States. In the context of suicide, the word survivors refers to the family and friends of the person who has died by suicide; this figure therefore does not represent the total number of people who may be affected. For example, the suicide of a child may leave the school and their entire community left to make sense of the act.As with any death, family and friends of a suicide victim feel grief associated with loss. These suicide survivors are often overwhelmed with psychological trauma as well, depending on many factors associated with the event. This trauma can leave survivors feeling guiltyangryremorsefulconfused. It can be especially difficult for survivors because many of their questions as to why the victim felt the need to take his or her own life are left unanswered. Moreover, survivors often feel that they have failed or that they should have intervened in some way. Given these complex sets of emotions associated with a loved ones suicide, survivors usually find it difficult to discuss the death with others, causing them to feel isolated from their own network of family and friends and often making them reluctant to form new relationships as well.Survivor groups can offer counseling and help bring many of the issues associated with suicide out into the open. They can also help survivors reach out to their own friends and family who may be feeling similarly and thus begin the healing process. In addition, counseling services and therapy can provide invaluable support to the bereaved. Some such groups can be found online, providing a forum for discussion amongst survivors of suicide (see Support Groups for Survivors section below).Deaths and injuries from suicidal behavior represent 25 billion each year in direct costs, including health care services, funeral services, autopsies and investigations, and indirect costs like lost productivity.These costs may be counterbalanced by economic gains. Expenditure on those who would have continued living is reduced, including pensions, social security, health care services for those with brain disorders (mentally ill), as well as other normal budgetary expenditure per head of living population.Modern medicine treats suicide as a mental health issue. Overwhelming or persistent suicidal thoughts are considered a medical emergency. Medical professionals advise that people who have expressed plans to kill themselves be encouraged to seek medical attention immediately. This is especially relevant if the means (weapons, drugs, or other methods) are available, or if the patient has crafted a detailed plan for executing the suicide. Medical personnel frequently receive special training to look for suicidal signs in patients. Individuals suffering from Depression“>depression are considered a high-risk group for suicidal behavior. Suicide hotlines are widely available for people seeking help. However, the negative and often too clinical reception that many suicidal people receive after relating their feelings to health professionals (e.g. threats of institutionalization, increased dosages of medication, the social stigma) may cause patients to remain more guarded about their mental health history or suicidal urges and ideation.United States, individuals who express the intent to harm themselves are automatically determined to lack the present mental capacity to refuse treatment, and can be transported to the emergency departmentemergency physician will determine whether inpatient care at a mental health care facility is warranted. This is sometimes referred to as being committed. A court hearing may be held to determine the patients In some jurisdictions, an act or failed act of suicide is considered to be a crime. More commonly, a surviving party member who assisted in the suicide attempt will face criminal charges.Brazil, if the help is directed to a minor, the penalty is applied in its double and not considered as homicideItalyCanada, instigating another to suicide is also a criminal offense. In Singapore, assisting in the suicide of a mentally handicapped person is a capital offense. In India, abetting suicide of a minor or a mentally challenged person can result in a possible death penalty, otherwise a maximum 10 years prison term. [3]In the Warring States Period and the Edo period of Japansamurai who disgraced their honor chose to end their own lives by seppuku, a method in which the samurai takes a sword and slices into his abdomen, causing a fatal injury. The cut is usually performed diagonally from the top corner of the samurais writing hand, and has long been considered an honorable form of death (even when done to punish dishonor). Though such a wound would be fatal, seppuku was not always technically suicide, as the samurais assistant (the kaishaku) would stand by to cut short any suffering by quickly administering a fatal cut to the back of the neck (just short of decapitation), sometimes as soon as the first tiny incision into the abdomen was made.In most forms of Christianity, suicide is considered a sin, based mainly on the writings of influential Christian thinkers of the Middle AgesSt. AugustineSt. Thomas Aquinas. Their arguments center around the commandment Thou shalt not kill (made applicable under the New CovenantJesusMatthew 19:18), as well as the idea that life is a gift given by God which should not be spurned, and that suicide is against the natural order and thus interferes with Gods master plan for the world.[4][5] However, it is believed that mental illness or grave fear of suffering diminishes the responsibility of the one completing suicide.[6] Suicide was not considered a sin under the Byzantinecode of Justinian[7][8]Judaism focuses on the importance of valuing this life, and as such, suicide is tantamount to denying Gods goodness in the world. Despite this, under extreme circumstances when there has seemed no choice but to either be killed or forced to betray their religion, Jews have committed individual suicide or
mass suicideMasadaFirst French persecution of the JewsYork Castle
for examples) and as a grim reminder there is even a prayer in the Jewish liturgy for when the knife is at the throat, for those dying to sanctify Gods Name. (See: ). These acts have received mixed responses by Jewish authorities, regarded both as examples of heroic martyrdom, whilst others state that it was wrong for them to take their own lives in anticipation of martyrdom.Suicide is not allowed in the religion of Islam; however, martyring oneself for Allah (during combat) is not the same as completing suicide. Suicide by Muslim standards is traditionally seen as a sign of disbelief in God.[9]suicide bombing is therefore a controversial one in Islam. Groups like Hamas consider it necessaryfor instance, in the struggle against occupation.Hinduism, suicide is frowned upon and is considered equally sinful as murdering another. Hindu Scriptures state that one who commits suicide will become a ghostSome see suicide as a legitimate matter of personal choice and a human right (colloquially known as the right to die movement), and maintain that no one should be forced to suffer against their will, particularly from conditions such as incurable disease, mental illness, and old age that have no possibility of improvement. Proponents of this view reject the belief that suicide is always irrational, arguing instead that it can be a valid last resort for those enduring major pain or trauma. This perspective is most popular in continental Europe,[10] where euthanasia and other such topics are commonly discussed in parliament, although it has a good deal of support in the United States as well.A narrower segment of this group considers suicide something between a grave but condonable choice in some circumstances and a sacrosanct right for anyone (even a young and healthy person) who believes they have rationally and conscientiously come to the decision to end their own lives. Notable supporters of this school of thought include German pessimist philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer[11]David Hume[12] Adherents of this view often advocate the abrogation of statutes that restrict the liberties of people known to be suicidal, such as laws permitting their involuntary commitment to mental hospitals. Critics may argue that suicidal impulses are often products of mental illness rather than rational self-interest, and that because of the gravity and irreversibility of the decision to take ones life it is more prudent for society to err on the side of caution and at least delay the suicidal act.
Categories

knifecrime

Last Updated: Monday, 19 March 2007,

Reid steps up knife crime fight

John Reid announced new measures in the Commons
Home Secretary John Reid has announced measures to improve the recording of knife crime following a series of fatal stabbings.
Mr Reid told the Commons that, from next month, data on serious offences involving knives and sharp instruments would be recorded separately.

This would provide "a more detailed understanding" of the problem, he said.

Five fatal stabbings over the past week have led to calls for knife crimes to be recorded and for tougher penalties.

Mr Reid also pledged to improve facilities to allow the public to pass on information about knife crime to the authorities.

"We need to take action before, as well after, the awful headlines we have seen," he told Parliament during a debate on the subject.

"I don't think I have pretended today to be offering a solution because I don't think it is within the power of government alone to offer such a solution.

"I think it has to involve personal and parental responsibility as well as the local community. "

Data call

Earlier, criminologist Marian Fitzgerald, a former Home Office adviser on crime and race, told BBC News the government had not taken the issue of knives as seriously as guns.

"With firearms, the police are required to record if an offence involved the use of a firearm," said Ms Fitzgerald, who now works at the University of Kent.

"They're not similarly required to record whether it involved the use of a knife."




Official figures show there has not been a rise in knife-related murders, but she said the lack of data on other knife crime left researchers "in the dark".

"Unless you've got that trend data you don't know whether the problem is going up or down - and certainly you don't know whether anything you do to tackle it is making any difference," she added.

Alf Hitchcock, spokesman on knives for the Association of Chief Police Officers (Acpo), backed the collection of separate data on the use of knives and said that recent events had "raised concerns".

But Mr Hitchcock, who is also deputy assistant commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, added that it was not just a policing issue but one "for society as a whole".

"Long-term reduction of these types of offences needs to be closely linked to wider social issues, such as parenting, the moral compass of some young people and broader societal issues," he added.

Adam Regis, 15, was stabbed to death in London at the weekend, only days after 16-year-old Kodjo Yenga was killed.

Kevin Platt, 30, was fatally stabbed to death in Manchester on Friday, and two other men, aged 21 and 24, were killed in separate incidents in the city.

Sentence pledge

Prime Minister Tony Blair branded the series of fatal stabbings "horrific", but pledged tougher sentences to help tackle violent crime.

The new Violent Crime Reduction Act would allow courts to pass "much tougher sentences", he said.

But the prime minister said the most serious violent crime rates were falling.

"I do think we need specific measures directed at gangs, guns and knives," he said.

Opposition politicians have also stressed the importance of tackling the issue.

KNIFE CRIME

Of 820 homicides in 2004/05, 236 (29%) were killed with sharp instrument
This was the most common method of killing
Knives were used in 6% of all violent crimes 2004/05

Source: British Crime Survey

Liberal Democrat leader Sir Menzies Campbell called for a mandatory five-year sentence for carrying a knife.

And shadow home affairs minister Edward Garnier stressed the need to "inculcate into [youngsters] the culture that carrying a knife can be fatal".


Under current laws, it is an offence to carry a knife in public without good reason or lawful authority - with the exception of a folding pocket knife with a blade less than 3in (7.5cm) in length.

The maximum sentence for carrying an offensive weapon was raised from two to four years' imprisonment last year.

And police launched a knife amnesty last summer, during which more than 100,000 weapons were handed in.

Reid steps up knife crime fight

John Reid announced new measures in the Commons
Home Secretary John Reid has announced measures to improve the recording of knife crime following a series of fatal stabbings.
Mr Reid told the Commons that, from next month, data on serious offences involving knives and sharp instruments would be recorded separately.

This would provide "a more detailed understanding" of the problem, he said.

Five fatal stabbings over the past week have led to calls for knife crimes to be recorded and for tougher penalties.

Mr Reid also pledged to improve facilities to allow the public to pass on information about knife crime to the authorities.

"We need to take action before, as well after, the awful headlines we have seen," he told Parliament during a debate on the subject.

"I don't think I have pretended today to be offering a solution because I don't think it is within the power of government alone to offer such a solution.

"I think it has to involve personal and parental responsibility as well as the local community. "

Data call

Earlier, criminologist Marian Fitzgerald, a former Home Office adviser on crime and race, told BBC News the government had not taken the issue of knives as seriously as guns.

"With firearms, the police are required to record if an offence involved the use of a firearm," said Ms Fitzgerald, who now works at the University of Kent.

"They're not similarly required to record whether it involved the use of a knife."




Official figures show there has not been a rise in knife-related murders, but she said the lack of data on other knife crime left researchers "in the dark".

"Unless you've got that trend data you don't know whether the problem is going up or down - and certainly you don't know whether anything you do to tackle it is making any difference," she added.

Alf Hitchcock, spokesman on knives for the Association of Chief Police Officers (Acpo), backed the collection of separate data on the use of knives and said that recent events had "raised concerns".

But Mr Hitchcock, who is also deputy assistant commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, added that it was not just a policing issue but one "for society as a whole".

"Long-term reduction of these types of offences needs to be closely linked to wider social issues, such as parenting, the moral compass of some young people and broader societal issues," he added.

Adam Regis, 15, was stabbed to death in London at the weekend, only days after 16-year-old Kodjo Yenga was killed.

Kevin Platt, 30, was fatally stabbed to death in Manchester on Friday, and two other men, aged 21 and 24, were killed in separate incidents in the city.

Sentence pledge

Prime Minister Tony Blair branded the series of fatal stabbings "horrific", but pledged tougher sentences to help tackle violent crime.

The new Violent Crime Reduction Act would allow courts to pass "much tougher sentences", he said.

But the prime minister said the most serious violent crime rates were falling.

"I do think we need specific measures directed at gangs, guns and knives," he said.

Opposition politicians have also stressed the importance of tackling the issue.

KNIFE CRIME

Of 820 homicides in 2004/05, 236 (29%) were killed with sharp instrument
This was the most common method of killing
Knives were used in 6% of all violent crimes 2004/05

Source: British Crime Survey

Liberal Democrat leader Sir Menzies Campbell called for a mandatory five-year sentence for carrying a knife.

And shadow home affairs minister Edward Garnier stressed the need to "inculcate into [youngsters] the culture that carrying a knife can be fatal".


Under current laws, it is an offence to carry a knife in public without good reason or lawful authority - with the exception of a folding pocket knife with a blade less than 3in (7.5cm) in length.

The maximum sentence for carrying an offensive weapon was raised from two to four years' imprisonment last year.

And police launched a knife amnesty last summer, during which more than 100,000 weapons were handed in.

Psychiatric Survivor

http://psychsurvivor.wordpress.com/second-lie-of-psychiatry/


1) First Lie of Psychiatry
The first lie of psychiatry is that you are not in prison, you are in a hospital.
The Talosians learned that humans have a “unique hatred of captivity” even when made as pleasant as possible, humans prefer death.
The “patient” is assumed guilty of being mentally ill and then drugged, opposite of the “Presumption of innocence”. Once drugged the “patient” is unable to fight his/her commitment, unable to fight for his/her rights through legal means. The intelligence drops, poor eyesight, weakness and nausea. Numerous “side effects” of the drugs keep the prisoner silent. I propose it is the “side effects” themselves, that the psychiatrist use to control their “patients” behaviour.
see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychology_of_torture#The_torture_process

For myself the first lie was confusing, as you got to agree with the boss man that it isn’t a prison, yet at the same time you know in your mind it is a prison. What are the rules? They know them and you don’t. I still don’t know the rules, and even if I knew them, the rules don’t mean shit if the guards(oops I mean hospital workers) don’t follow them. So it’s somewhat useless to know them whatever they are. The hospital workers will never admit to you, let alone themselves that they work in a prison, so you got to agree with the boss man that it is a hospital.
What made this doubly confusing for myself was the prison wasn’t a locked prison, when I first entered the psychiatric world. At the time of my entry (around 1985), there still was no locks on the doors of four east (the psych ward I know). They used excessive drugging and lack of clothing to prevent escapes. I had to be smart enough not to try to run, even though I wanted to, as the knowledge there is no where to run to, and the escape would not be successful. If I was not smart enough, more drugs or restraints would be used.
Today they have a locked door, due to a successful escape resulting in a physical death, I heard through the gossip mill.
Doctor: (voice raised) “We’ve argued about this before. You must believe you are mentally ill or we can’t help you.”
I do not know if the tradition of taking the prisoners… oops I mean patients clothing is still in effect, I do believe so. But last I was there I was waved the reward system of “giving” someone their own clothing for good behaviour, due to my past time served there. Story on taking a patients clothing. A history of mental illness and going to the ER story
Humiliation from the guards oops I mean nursing staff. To enforce their dominance over their flock they can and do use restraints on their subjects. Five point restraints is typical. Each appendage and the stomach. Restraint is the euphemism for tied up like a hog. Then what happens after an hour or two being tied up? The prisoner/patient has to urinate/pee/piss/void. But they are tied up. piss story
Judges are sentencing criminals to this ward as well for crimes like murder, so locked doors are a necessity for these co-prisoners, oops I mean co-patients. All mental patients are all friends to one another , like all black people know each other and are all brothers.
All hospital psychiatric wards have a box or hole to put the unruly prisoner… oops I mean patient. The one on four east is/was called the “pink” room. It consists of a bed bolted to the floor with four or five point restraints on the bed. Above the bed (the patient gets to see) on the ceiling is this round air vent that is the only source of entertainment or contemplation for the duration of your stay. To me it (made?)makes a magical pleasant kind of hissing sound and it became my friend such as Wilson soccer ball in the Tom Hanks film Cast Away. If you have a phobia about dirt or cleaning you’d be in trouble as you can clearly see an accumulation of dust and dirt on it. Mine is mild…I must clean that dust away…but wait.. is the dust Wilsons smiling face? Where would his face go? Did it ever exist?
The one good thing about the old ward was there was a pool table in the central area. Sure it was a worn out piece of crap, but it was something. No matter how drugged one was, you could still hold a stick and hit a ball. They took it out a few years after they got the locked doors installed. Reportedly due to some kind of incident. I don’t know the details, but you can imagine.
They have (had) a relatively small TV that’s either on maximum volume or not at all, and you still can’t hear it over the noise, or because its on maximum. The eternal struggle for the correct TV show goes on. If you have ever had a fight with just two people over the TV in your house imagine say ten people fighting over what show to watch. Yet another power struggle of fun. I imagine in criminal steel bar prisons with one TV it is similar.
The hardest thing about the ward is the boredom, and with the boredom (24 hour cement walls) the knowledge of the injustice of loss of freedom . The anger I had to make cold one, a logical one of hatred. Only now with experience I can know of a expected release date, as a young prisoner… I meant patient I had no idea how long I would be imprisoned , and the guards oops I mean hospital workers would, and did lie about when I would be getting out. When the lies were revealed as the days came and went, more hope was lost and the boss man became ever more powerful.
I learnt I am no longer a human being, but a defective object, for psychiatrists to fix.
When first admitted/jailed they dope the heck out of you, this can reduce you to a drooling moron. Over the many weeks as they reduce the amount of drugs, they tell you , you are getting better, your family tells you , you are getting better, when all it is , is they are reducing the drugging. The final outrage comes when they claim to have helped you after jailing and drugging you, and wish to take credit for your “recovery” and wish to be thanked for the torture/help they forced you to endure.
2) Second Lie of Psychiatry

The second lie of psychiatry is that the drugs and various treatments work to fix a chemical imbalance.
What the medication/drugs and treatment are for is to change YOU not a chemical imbalance. Your (non-physical) mind and soul are diseased and have to be controlled with mind altering drugs and medication, this will make you compliant and obedient to who ever is looking after your sorry ass.
They don’t like you and your behaviour. They took no brain scan or laboratory test to see what your brain chemical balance is/was. They disapprove of your behaviour and want it stopped.
I assume everyone reading this is a competent adult, if you are not competent you have dangerously escaped your masters protective watch, you must forget what you have read, leave and never come back to my site, or sites like this. Philip Dawdy of Furious Seasons wrote of malicious comments of evil people who intend to cause suffering or worse. My statement “they” don’t like you and your behaviour, is not intended to cause harm but tell the truth. I am not the one who called/labelled someone diseased and pushed drugs to change the person. The onus of responsibility ( to keep their puppet under control) is on the keepers of the puppet.
Fraud artists sell fake cures for illness, this started when people started using money. It still goes on today, many people looking for hope for a cure, find a fraudster and are swindled.
No chemical medication can give someone the intelligence, morals and the will to do the the correct thing.
Psychiatry has attempted and successfully classified the human condition as a medical condition that they can help with. Youtube link of British documentary
In days past, they might have been called vices, now they are mental illness that psychiatry has a cure for with a medication or a treatment.
The medications are to be taken for the rest of the patients/slaves life. Those chemical imbalances are sure hard to handle eh? No other illness like it.
Catch22, you are ill because we say you are ill.
Heads I win, tails you lose.

I have a secret for you, a large amout of medications they prescribe are habit forming. Shh don’t tell anyone. They use the euphemism “Do not stop treatment or change dose without medical supervision”. NOTE: when taking their medicine, you can’t use mankinds oldest medicine of alcohol. How many “mentally ill” might be/are alcoholics? Do you want them to stop drinking alcohol?
In the long term use, the medication damages the patient/slaves brain. The classic one is called tardive dyskinesia. “15 per cent of patients develop tardive dyskinesia within only three years”
For ethical reasons I have to tell you, if you are taking psychiatric drugs, and want to stop, do not suddenly stop taking them. The sudden change in brain chemistry may be too much stress for you.
when I quit, I quit suddenly and had a week or two of hell, rather than a year or whatever for withdrawal. To cope with the negative and positive (joke on psychiatric descriptive terms) symptoms of withdrawal, you should experiment, try anything legal to see if it works then use it appropriately.
I have on occasion forgotten what the drugs effects are and taken a single dose and then I remember.
—————————-
Of various treatments
Of various treatments, one would be ECT. I am opposed to it completely, as there are a multitude of better things to try first, but some are not legal. The actions of psychiatry that may create the potential ECT patient beforehand, is overlooked.
To lose ones memory, is to lose oneself and have just the fleshy part left alive. ECT is barbaric. Fortunately most recover from brain damaging ECT. What are the true facts? Only in certain places do they have to report ECT results to Government. Psychiatrist that perform the ECT also get to judge the results, really scientific there. No patients are truely given informed concent, as what can happen is unpredictable, what memories or motor function that will be lost is unknown. Maybe death?. Few can quit once the many series of shocks have started.
An alternative to brain damaging ECT is VNS or a derivative
www.ect.org Electroconvulsive Therapy Causes Permanent Amnesia and Cognitive Deficits
John Breeding ELECTROSHOCK
) Third Lie of Psychiatry

Dr. Walter Jackson Freeman performs lobotomy. In the United States, a major evaluation study called the Columbia-Greystone project was conducted in 1947 and failed to provide evidence of the positive effects of lobotomies. Many times, the evaluation was performed by the surgeons who did the work, without any kind of scientific controls. LINK
Today In China, Brain Surgery Is Pushed on the Mentally Ill By NICHOLAS ZAMISKA November 2, 2007
The third lie of Psychiatry is that Psychiatrists are doctors. We have established there is no lab test, or any brain scan, any blood test to diagnose mental illness. It is diagnosed through the patients behaviour.
Szasz writes If “mental illness” means brain disease, then it is not a disease of the mind and psychiatry would be absorbed into neurology and disappear. But this is patently not the case. Psychiatrists regularly occupy themselves with personal conduct of social interest, such as homosexuality, aggression, racism, suicide, and murder.
I think we all know of the Holy Bible and The Holy Qur’an, in them are rules for judging behaviour. I don’t know the Qur’an but in the Bible we have the ten commandments that both Jewish and Christian are supposed to follow.
For Psychiatrists they have the Holy DSM. With it they judge the patients sins and transgressions. No one has ever been cured of their mental illness, (youtube video)as they may be able to sin again.
That is all well and fine for a psychiatrist to do on his or her own, we all have the freedom to judge others, but when they have the authority to commit people to imprisonment and medicate people for their sins, it becomes wrong. It is a religion of legal drugs known as medication. If a person doesn’t want the drugs, they can be forced once deemed (judgement from the dealer) a danger to themselves or others and the drugs would “help” them. “Help” being whatever the psychiatrist thinks is correct. Some people do need help, I acknowledge, but who watches the psychiatrist? No one.
To lose ones liberty, the most precious thing a person can have, should be up to a jury, not one individual judge with their own morals and values.
What keeps it alive are many things. The inertia of having existed for some time. The power of position that is unquestionable. see “Bipolar depression of the third degree”.
The general publics need (to go to a psychiatrist first) for legal mind altering drugs/medicine keep it alive. The need for preventive justice, to control the misbehaviours (not illegal actions) of others. Szasz has written many books on the need for psychiatry.
Oh I nearly forgot, it is a BILLION dollar industry, who’s “science” of success is decided by itself and not its patients/slaves/victims/parishioner.
Have some sympathy for the psychiatrist, as false imprisonment,ECT and drugs is all he/she knows. The evidence of drugs efficacy to successfully fix a mind from “bad” to “good” speaks for itself.
Advice + Secrets for the Psychiatric Survivor
Advice and Secrets for the Psychiatric Survivor.
1)Most everything here will likely make you feel fear. Myself I could not take the constant feeling of fear when first discovering anti-psychiatry. If you feel fear, please go do something else until you feel better. Fear releases all kinds of natural chemicals like adrenaline and such, but these natural chemicals are not good for someone who has experienced psychiatry and may fear future psychiatric “help”.
2) Never ever, never ever, I repeat, get physically violent. Any proof (damage to object or person) or a witness to your violence will provide evidence that you are out of control and need to be “helped”. If you feel anger, angry or frustrated, leave the place you are and go somewhere else until you have mastered your anger/ the anger has passed away. This is called freedom, if you do not take the opportunity to leave an explosive situation, you might lose your freedom to criminal jail or psychiatric jail. I am sorry but even if you are in the right in a situation, if you have a history of “mental illness” you are at a severe disadvantage to your opponent the sane normal person. This is why all conflict has to be nonviolent or don’t have conflict

risks to our Society

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Fear and freedom

Posted: 14 April 2005 | Subscribe Online


It is hard not to be intrigued by the tale of a man who kills a mate and then fries and eats his brains. But, as he was a psychiatric patient at the time of the killing, “who let him out?” is the question that most people have been asking. It later turned out that Peter Bryan had killed before and had spent time in a secure hospital before his release back into the community.



The case of the “cannibal”, as Bryan has become known, has reignited the debate about care in the community for mental health patients. Few people can believe that professionals could have deemed him well – and safe – enough to be let out of hospital twice. The public wants to know just how safe care in the community can be if mistakes as grave as these still happen.


It hasn’t helped that the case of Bryan followed on the heels of another killing by a mental health patient. John Barrett, who like Bryan was a paranoid schizophrenic, stabbed a man to death after being allowed leave from a psychiatric hospital. He had also been violent before. Again the question has been asked: why didn’t the staff involved detect the risk he posed to society?

These two cases are not isolated examples of homicides by people with diagnosed mental health problems. Nine per cent of killers in England and Wales have been in contact with mental health services in the year preceding the offence, and almost a fifth have had contact at some point.( 1)


In the past 10 years there have been more than 150 independent inquiries into homicides carried out by psychiatric patients, and the findings seem strikingly familiar. The evidence often points to a catalogue of errors by the mental health services involved, usually due to poor communication, inadequate risk assessment or lack of face-to-face contact with service users.




One of the most well known inquiries followed the death of Jonathan Zito, who was stabbed to death in December 1992 while waiting for a London tube train. The report into the care of his schizophrenic killer, Christopher Clunis, revealed that three months before the attack Clunis had been discharged from psychiatric hospital into the community.

More than 10 years later, what is still going wrong?


Part of the problem is that many of the old institutions have been shut without enough replacement provision in the community, says Michael Howlett, director of the Zito Trust. The 150,000 beds that were available in the 1950s have now been reduced to fewer than 33,000 and the remaining psychiatric hospitals are buckling under the strain.


“You have to be pretty ill to get into hospital and there is a risk of being discharged before you are ready. This puts even greater pressure on community-based services,” says Howlett.


“We feel there are people in the community who shouldn’t be there. They should be back in hospital. They have been abandoned or forgotten or gone off the radar screen and not adequately followed up. Even if they were known about, it would be almost impossible to find them any hospital services, because they are overstretched.”


That mental health services are at crisis point is not in itself a revelation. For years the sector has been under-funded, and despite mental health being declared one of the government’s top three health priorities, funding has lagged behind other areas.


About one in three people who approach services are turned away. Without the help they need, their condition often deteriorates until they become seriously unwell.


A more preventive strategy is vital if care is to get better, says Tony Zigmond, vice-president of the Royal College of Psychiatrists.


“You won’t prevent tragedies by targeting tragedies. If the aim is to reduce the number of homicides, general improvements in mental health services in the community and in hospitals will achieve this,” he says.


But while any homicide is one too many, it is important to keep a sensible perspective on the number carried out by psychiatric patients. Every year there are about 50,000 detentions under the Mental Health Act 1983, and most people are subsequently discharged back into the community.


“You are 10 times more likely to be killed by your employer than by someone with a mental illness,” says Zigmond. “There are 400 deaths due to corporate manslaughter every year and just 40 by the mentally ill.”


It’s just that when such homicides happen, they tend to reach the headlines. Staff find themselves pilloried for their mistakes which, with hindsight, seem avoidable. Surely this climate of fear must make staff reluctant to take risks?


Absolutely, says Zigmond. “That’s why the number of people detained has doubled in the past 20 years, though there’s not been a doubling in the amount with mental illness. People are being detained more readily and kept in.”


L earning how to assess the risk that a patient poses, either to themselves or to others, is a fundamental requirement for staff working in mental health services. However, that doesn’t mean training is always available or accessible. Even when it is, practitioners often find they cannot spare the time away from clinical duties.



Steve Morgan runs a practice development consultancy and trains people on risk assessment. In an attempt to tighten up their procedures and cover their backs, organisations are increasingly turning risk assessment into an administrative, form-filling exercise.


“The narrow focus on paperwork is a knee-jerk reaction to what is portrayed in the media. But making sure the paperwork is done distracts from the real assessment of risk in day-to-day work,” he says.


Morgan adds that the fear of getting things wrong – from organisations and practitioners – ultimately has a detrimental impact on service users.


“They say that when stories hit the headlines, trusts become more negative and restrictive. Practitioners are worried that if it happens to them they will be on the front page. A substantial number of people are not receiving the services they need and deserve because practice is being driven by a fear of things going wrong.”


If services are no longer of benefit to users, then the users stop coming to them. And if users stop accessing help when they need it, their mental health is likely to suffer and the risks increase.


The system may not be working as smoothly as it could, but are things set to change with new mental health legislation? Not if the draft mental health bill goes through parliament, assuming that it is revived in its current format in the next parliament.


“It could make the situation worse,” says Paul Farmer, chair of the Mental Health Alliance, a coalition of more than 60 mental health organisations campaigning on the proposed changes.


For a start, the way the bill is framed – particularly with its wide definition of mental disorder – could lead to more people being subject to its powers. Receiving help early reduces risks, but if an individual thinks they may be locked up, they will be reluctant to seek help.


In addition, the bill is seen to disproportionately emphasise the danger posed by people with mental health problems. Under the proposals, people who are considered dangerous, such as those with personality disorders, could be locked up indefinitely – despite evidence suggesting that between 2,000 and 5,000 people would need to be detained to prevent just one homicide.
Again, fear and society’s negative perceptions of mental illness, are likely to drive people away from the help they need.


The joint parliamentary scrutiny committee that analysed the bill has made it clear that public protection should not be allowed to dominate reform of mental health legislation.( 2) But in light of the outcry over the recent homicides, the government may not heed the warnings.


To this end, Farmer is concerned. “The danger is there will be a knee-jerk reaction on the back of these two cases, which are extremely rare if you look at the number of people with mental health problems who pose absolutely no risk. We have to frame the legislation to meet the needs of many.”


Exactly what shape the legislation will take remains to be seen. Up until now the government has remained determined to focus on public protection, despite calls for mental health legislation to be primarily concerned with patients. It is to be hoped that any amendments to the bill are written before anyone else is killed – otherwise one dreads to think what draconian measures they could contain.


(1) Five-Year Report of the National Confidential Inquiry into Suicide and Homicide by People with Mental Illness, Department of Health, 2001

(2) Report of the Joint Committee on the Draft Mental Health Bill, 2005, from www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/jt/jtment.htm

'Good support means everything'

Martin Reynolds, 43, suffers from schizoaffective disorder. He has had three hospital admissions - an eight-month stint in 1995, three months in 1996, and a week in 1997. In between admissions he has lived in the community.

"In 1995 when I first came out of hospital, care in the community was terrible. I was dumped in a flat on the worst housing estate in the area and told to get on with it. It was not conducive to my mental health at all," he says.

During this time his home was broken into eight times and he was abused and threatened in the neighbourhood. As for care from mental health services, he had infrequent appointments with a psychiatrist and none with a social worker or community psychiatric nurse (CPN).

But he says that the NHS has improved in the past 10 years and he now has weekly visits from a CPN. At last he feels that he is receiving enough support. And what does it mean to him?

"Good support in the community means everything. I made a couple of suicide attempts in the past and it's possible that if I didn't have enough support self-harm might be an option again."

As for the recent hype around homicides by people with mental health problems, he thinks that the public could misunderstand.

"I wouldn't like people to get the impression that all people with a diagnosis are a risk to the public. I'm not a threat to anybody. I'm a very peaceful man.

"He thinks that the public - and the government - should heed the statistics showing the tiny percentage of people with mental health problems who commit crimes.

He adds: "I hope the government doesn't round them up and get them in hospital when there is no need for it."

The Serious organised crime and police act 2005

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SOCPA
News and reports on actions and repression related to the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005 and the Parliamentary 'exclusion zone' in central London.
Full article | 1 addition | 3 comments
The Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005 (SOCPA)
15-05-2007 00:00

The Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005 (SOCPA) is a major piece of legislation, which established the Serious Organised Crime Agency, an FBI-like agency to tackle "serious organised crime", as it says on the box.
People-trafficking, drug wholesaling, violent armed robbery, torture, extortion and murder, is the kind of thing that might spring to mind. The bill, however, was used as an opportunity to deal with issues that might not be considered so serious. It introduced us to ASBO's, for example; outlawed animal activists' "interference with contractual arrangements" and, most pertinently, the right to protest in designated areas without prior permission.
Below is a comprehensive 'diary', put together by IMC UK activists, of events related to SOCPA since it came into force on 1 August, 2005.
Related Categories | SOCPA
Full article | 6 comments
Preserving disorder: freedom to protest and the future of SOCPA
16-11-2007 21:14

The Home Office has recently published a consultation paper which hints at what was really meant by Gordon Brown's promise to look again at the law which restricts demonstrations near parliament, far from repealing this legislation the consultation indicates that the government wants to extend the restrictions on demonstrations to cover the whole country.
The current law on demonstrations around parliament bans spontaneous protests, requiring demonstrators to seek advance police permission, which allows the police to impose arbitrary limits on numbers and effectively act as political censors. See a timeline of its effects.
A public meeting challenging the new proposal will be held at the London School of Economics on the 2nd December.
Links: SOCPA the movie | ASBOwatch | Repeal SOCPA | State of Emergency | schNEWS article | the Consultation Document | SOCPA topic page
Related Categories | SOCPA | Analysis | Repression
Full article
Confrontation with authorities in Parliament Square
17-10-2007 21:26

On 8th October, the day that the British Parliament resumed after its Summer recess, a thousands of anti-war protesters marched into Parliament Square. They were joined by people who demanded the basic freedom to be able to protest peacefully without prior police permission or conditions.
In the past demonstrators in London have been arrested, charged and fined or imprisoned simply for reading out a list of names or for carrying an innocuous banner, under the draconian SOCPA legislation brought in by Prime Minister Blair's government and carried on by his successor Brown. Since a raid on protesters' legitimate encampment in the Square by Mayor Livingstone's Greater London Authority (GLA) team on 17th August, a surrounding metal barrier has been erected which severely inhibits the ability to demonstrate there.
Timeline: [ 14.55 | 15.40 | 16.15 | 16.30 | 17.15 ]
Video: [ 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 ]
Pictures: [ 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 ]
Texts: [ Monopoly on Protest: Open Letter to CND and the Stop the War Coalition | What's wrong with Stop the War Campaign? | SOCPA - STWC 'ban' was bollocks ]
Related Categories | SOCPA | Anti-militarism | Iraq | London
Full article | 1 comment
Anti-war greeting for Tweedle Brown
27-06-2007 13:12

Gordon Brown is facing an anti-war welcome during his first week in power, with little sign that he will break with Blair's disastrous foreign policy. A War Is Still the Issue camp was set up in Parliament Square from Saturday 23rd [ 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | Video ] (the fact that it was allowed may be a sign that SOCPA will be repealed? ... well, in fact probably not!). There was a demonstration outside Brown's Labour leadership coronation in Manchester on Saturday [ 1 | 2 | 3 ] and a Military Families Against War demonstration took place on his first day as Prime Minister on Wednesday [ Pics ] Later in the evening, a small group of activists braved the rain outside Blair's new Connaught Square home and made neighbours aware of their new resident [ Pics ].
Links: War is Still the issue | Voices in the Wilderness | Justice Not Vengeance | Stop the War Coalition | Military Families Against the War
Related Categories | SOCPA | Anti-militarism | Iraq | London | Manchester
Full article | 3 additions
Parliament Square Peace Campers in Court
29-05-2007 15:25

At least 12 activists have now been charged under SOCPA in connection with the No More Fallujahs Peace Camp and Naming the Dead actions in Parliament Square and Whitehall on 29-30 October 2006. Reports from the actions here.
In a planned act of civil disobedience against the occupation of Iraq, campaigners set up an unauthorised camp in Parliament Square for 24 hours last October. In all, over 100 people took part in workshops and discussions and held 'Naming the Dead' remembrance ceremonies in Parliament Square and Whitehall during the action.
Most of the defendants have been in court over the past two weeks, with the judgements to date illustrating the arbitrary nature of British "justice".
Read on...
Related Categories | SOCPA | Anti-militarism | Iraq | Repression | London
Full article | 1 comment
Mass lone demo breaks Guinness Book of Records
22-04-2007 19:37

"According to the Home Office there have been 1,379 demonstrations authorised under SOCPA in 18 months (1 Aug 2005 - Dec 2006). With your help we'd like to attempt to hold 2,000 demonstrations in a day!"
So reads the splurge on the Mark Thomas website. Today's efforts alone totalled 2294, breaking, according to Mark, the challenge set by records administrators.
Related Categories | SOCPA | London
Full article | 47 additions | 53 comments
Parliament Sq. Protest Trashed by Police
12-05-2006 11:57

Brian Haw's display was removed early in the morning of 23rd May by 50 police officers. At 2.45am they turned up and started to load a container with all the placards and banners and almost all of Brian's personal possessions. [Photos | Video]
A timeline since Monday 8th, when the state won its appeal against the decision that the SOCPA legislation could not be applied to the protest which Brian Haw .

knifes kill get real laws to deal with knife crime

THE INDEPENDENT VICTIMS HELPLINE (UK)

throw away your knifes not your lives

Scanning Britons for knife crime
By Susannah Cullinane
BBC News


Most people at the trial noticed cameras, not the metal detector
The proliferation of knives across the UK has police worried, with Scotland Yard warning it is one of the most serious problems officers face. Can metal detectors beat the problem?
He walks towards the silver poles, spots the police presence and makes a sharp U-turn. Officers, noticing his sudden change of heart, search him and find a knife.
The arrest that followed was one of the first made as trials of a metal detector at one of the UK's busiest bus stations begins.
With teachers calling for random weapons checks in schools and headlines warning of dangerous numbers of people - particularly the young - carrying knives, it is the latest initiative aimed at beating the problem.
The size of the task ahead was underlined on Thursday, when Metropolitan Police commissioner John Stevens said: "Gun crime has been reduced and people have moved over to knives.
"If people are carrying a knife for the wrong reasons then I think they should receive a mandatory sentence of two or even three years."
Operation Blunt
The metal detector trial is at Hammersmith in west London, which deals with tens of thousands of passengers each day.
It was chosen because it is used by people from all over London and is frequently attended by police called to deal with disorder incidents.


If it will protect one child I'm all for it

Martha Brett
If the trial is judged a success, the equipment could potentially be deployed in the rest of England and Wales.
Commander Simon Foy, head of the Scotland Yard anti-knife crime initiative Operation Blunt, said the extent of the problem was difficult to define.
"We're more conscious of them if there's a stabbing or knifepoint robbery, but there's a grey area for burglaries through to assaults where a knife was used to intimidate.
"A considerable amount of violent crime is knife-related."
Fine or caution
Under current laws, possessing a firearm carries a mandatory five-year prison sentence, but offenders could be jailed for up to 10 years.
In contrast, anyone caught carrying a knife without good reason faces a maximum sentence of four years.
If the blade is less than three inches long the punishment could be as little as a £50 fine or a caution.
Police are concerned about the number of people now arming themselves with knives.
They say that young people aged 12 to 20 are more likely to be both offenders and victims in knife crime cases.
Schools crackdown
Last month Education Secretary Charles Clarke said schools could be given powers to search pupils for weapons, under plans to tackle bad behaviour.

The police presence will put people off, but once they have gone away it will come back

Hammersmith commuter
After Luke Walmsley, 14, was murdered by a fellow pupil at a Lincolnshire school last year, Scotland Yard said hi-tech scanners would be offered to schools to help guard against knives.
An X-ray machine which can show weapons hidden under clothes is another of the tactics being used by police and officers have also been using hand-held metal detectors on suspects.
In Hammersmith, the installation of a metal detector seemed to appeal to many passengers.
Martha Brett, 55, from London, said they were a "fantastic" idea and that they should be at all stations, and possibly on public transport.
"Mostly for children - they seem to be carrying the knives, if it will protect one child I'm all for it."
She pointed out that a small, "but very sharp" Swiss Army knife on her keying had not set off the detector, but suggested it probably wasn't "prestigious" enough for children.
'High reading'
The metal detector is in fact set to a very high reading based on metal density, so it does not bleep at more innocent objects.
But police believe word has spread about the trial and fewer potential offenders were coming into the area where the detector was based.
"Some people being put off will be knife carrying," said Commander Foy, "there's the whole deterrent effect of this."

Commander Foy pointed to the deterrent effect of the trial
In terms of judging whether the trial was a success, Commander Foy points to the man who had been caught avoiding the detector.
He added: "The thing that will interest me most is what the officers say. Does this help officers do their job?"
Others are less convinced that the initiative will make a difference.
Another commuter was keen to keep the detector and officers battling crime in Hammersmith.
He said: "The police presence will put people off, but once they have gone away it will come back."

THE INDEPENDENTHELPLINE.BLOGSPOT.COM
COMMUNITY HELPLINE
Is knife crime really getting worse?
By Megan Lane & Brian Wheeler
BBC News Online Magazine



Concern about violent crime in Britain has swung back to knives and their availability to children. But has so-called "knife culture" risen while the media's attention has been so fixed on gun crime?
It's a shopping list likely to send a chill down the spine: kitchen knives, axes, razor sharp "cat skinners" and Ninja-style throwing knives.
Yet these and other potentially lethal weapons can be easily bought by children, according to a new national survey.
Almost half of shops tested broke the law by selling knives to children under 16, according to the Trading Standards Institute. And internet traders are even more of a push over because of the anonymity involved in buying something online.

Michael Howard, launching an anti-knife campaign in 1996
Sceptics, however, might comment that it has always been thus. There's nothing new about youngsters seeking to boost their street cred by carrying a blade.
It used to be the lore of the playground that flick knives - illegal in the UK - could be effortlessly picked up across the Channel (and so retained a status as the ultimate souvenir from a French exchange trip).
So are we really witnessing a rise in so-called "knife culture" or is the recent coverage afforded to the issue in newspapers just a spot of media hysteria?
Evidence shows knife seizures are on the increase. The number of people convicted of carrying a blade in public rose from 2,559 in 1995 to 3,570 in 2000, according to the Home Office.
Reports from hospital A&E departments indicate a rise in stab wounds, particularly among young men aged between 14 and 25.
Daily routine
One expert with street-level experience is convinced more young people are arming themselves with knives these days.

Everybody goes to the market and buys kitchen knives - they say they want to use them in the kitchen, but they don't

Youth club member, John
"We are seeing more and more stab wounds - even five years ago, these were pretty rare. Young males in particular are carrying knives on a daily basis, and if they carry them, they use them," says John Heyworth, of the British Association for Accident and Emergency Medicine.
Those young men are often of school age, according to a survey by the Youth Justice Board this year. It found that of the crimes committed by young people, carrying a knife was the most common offence among children excluded from school (62%).
Undoubtedly, the problem is a predominantly urban one. Julie Jacobs, of the Streatham Youth Centre in south London, says some young people begin to carry knives from about the age of 11, when they first begin to venture out of their home patch.

A 'cyclone knife', bought online
"There is a sense that they need some sort of protection. It is a turf thing, a territory thing, but I don't think it is getting any worse."
So have youngsters themselves seen a rise in knife brandishing?
John, a 17-year-old at the Charter House Youth Club, in Southwark, London, believes the problem is "getting worse" although he does not know anyone who carries a knife.
He was once been threatened by three boys with kitchen knives, while on a bus.
"They were trying to jack me. They wanted my mobile phone and my money. There is nothing that can be done about people getting hold of knives. Everybody goes to the market and buys kitchen knives. They say they want to use them in the kitchen, but they don't."
Suspended from school
One 14-year-old from Peckham thinks there's a lot of bluster from kids trying to appear harder than they are.

Hidden in a comb - concealed blades are easily available
"I know people who brag about carrying knives. They say they have a great big butcher's knife. People say silly things."
He says a boy at his school was suspended after a knife was found in his bag. But generally, he says, the situation is getting better at his school.
"Maybe one day out of seven someone will say 'give me you money' or something, but I never have been threatened with a knife."
Of those that do brandish a blade, many justify it as in the interests of "self defence", says Unun Seshmi, who runs a charity called Boyhood to Manhood which is dedicated to steering young black people away from crime.
"They are walking around in fear of being stabbed. They feel there is nobody there to protect them. They don't want to go to the police. But they don't want to use the knife either."
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Some of your comments on this story:
I carried knives while at school in the late 70s/early 80's. There was a need for protection in a school known for its violence. I still carry one today, every time I leave the house. I don't do this to intimidate people, and I've never used it - in fact I do my best to steer around trouble situations - but if caught in a dangerous situation I need to be able to protect myself, and I believe I have the right to.
Anon, Uk
In the late 1950s Mr Barnet-Janner, MP for Leicester, introduced a law against carrying offensive weapons during the Teddy Boy era. (Razors and knives were carried and used at that time by delinquents). The law was passed and rigorously enforced by the police. It was successful! So what happened?
Christopher J Wright, Spain
We still circle the problem - the penalties for carrying a knife should be severe as the only reason for doing so, whether or not in self-defence, is the intention of causing harm.
Phil K, UK
I think it would be a shame to see politically correct hysteria over knives. My father, a respectable and now retired gentleman, has carried a small pocket kife for many, many years, but as the blade is fraction over two inches long I believe he is guilty of carrying an offensive weapon.
Robert Jones, England