When I was 15 years old, I was held at knife point by a young individual barely in their adulthood. Nearly 15 years later, a harrowing replica of my experience has occurred against people I know. This rampant persistence of knife and drug-related offenses is not an isolated issue. It is a reflection of the current legislation's inadequacy in addressing the severity of these actions.

In memory of past victims and in hope for safer communities, I implore you to sign this petition. Let's work towards establishing harsher prison sentences for knife and drug crimes. Together, we can toughen the law and secure a safer future. I want to see prison sentences for gang related offences, knife crimes and drug offences increased to 30 years minimum up to 60 years to deter criminals from committing crimes and “treating prison like a play centre” (the words of a Mother of a young child in my local area). 

In England and Wales alone, there were 46,265 recorded knife crime offenses in 2020, a near 6% increase from 2019 (Office of National Statistics). Meanwhile, global drug use has risen by 30% in the past decade according to the United Nations. However, recidivism rates remain alarmingly high, suggesting that our existing punitive methods are not effective deterrents.

Our communities should not live in fear due to ineffective punishment of violent crimes. Instituting harsher penalties would not only deliver justice to victims, but also serve as a deterring factor for potential offenders. As daunting as these figures may seem, we can tip the scales by pushing for pivotal legal action now. Our kids don’t feel safe on the streets or in the parks built for their use, and some of them are ‘carrying knives to defend themselves’ causing a repeated cycle.