While we are still on the subject of the government’s failure to tackle crime, Home Secretary Jacqui Smith announced plans to fit metal detectors in schools to deter knife crime.
She said in an interview with the BBC:
“I think that it’s a good idea if we look at the ways which in some schools it might be appropriate to use search arches- because I don’t want young people to know that it doesn’t make them safer to carry a knife.
“It actually makes them more likely to be a victim.”
Excuse me, who is going to pay for this? Is the Home Office going to pay? Will local councils have to cut other front-line services to support your pet project?
Hate to sound cynical, but to me this is yet another knee-jerk government policy aimed at telling an already over-cynical public that something is being done. No resources will be made available to enable councils and voluntary groups to provide decent after-school and youth facilities…. no commitment to delivering outreach services to hard -to- reach groups….. and certainly no change in social policy that should aim to tackle the horrifying causes of knife crime in young people.
Like all previous government “initiatives”, this plan will almost certainly fail…