Summary
According to Lizzie Dearden, London has experienced their seventh fatal knife attack as a man has been stabbed to death in Newham. The victim was around the age of 29 and was “found injured following reports of a fight in Silvertown” (Dearden, 2019). The paramedics were called around 2 in the morning, but when they arrived the victim died at the scene. One man has been captured and arrested for this as ongoing investigations proceed. As previously stated, this wasn’t the first knife attack that London has witnessed. This is shown as “the east London stabbing was the latest in a string of knife murders across the capital in the last week, including three in little over four hours on Thursday” (Dearden, 2019). Many of these murders involved killing random people on the street, as well as barging in to their homes and stabbing the victims to death. In order to keep up with the murders, the Metropolitan Police “has set up a squad attempting to use social media posts to predict outbreaks of violence and gang crime” (Dearden, 2019). Due to using social media, Cressida Dick “claimed violent crime was falling following an increase in the use of stop and search” (Dearden, 2019). Overall, the knife murders in London have created new ways for the Metropolitan Police to spot outbreaks of violence in order to reduce crime.
Sociological Reflection
Reflecting back on this current event, the public concern of the knife murders that were going on in London may be higher than it should be based on what is being displayed by the news media. This is because “if the television news and newspapers suddenly have several stories about a few sensational crimes, public concern about crime may jump, even though crime in general has not risen at all” (“Social Problems”, 2015, p. 337). According to the article, 2019 was the bloodiest year in London since 2008, meaning that crime hasn’t been significantly increasing throughout the years, and that it only happens over periods of time. In addition, the news media may “create the false impression that a ‘crime wave’ is occurring when the crime rate may even be declining” (“Social Problems”, 2015, p. 337). Covering the stories about the knife murders and discussing how often these murders have happened in the last week may create panic to the citizens because of the sudden rise in crime when that may not be the case. Lastly, the news media also like to devote their stories to homicides when it comes to crimes, even though homicides are not as common as other types of crime. In general, the news media that covers these stories about the knife murders that took place in London may create false fear and increase the public concern of crime, despite the fact that the crime rate itself may be decreasing.
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