In general I welcome most initiatives that are brought forward to attempt to reduce violent crime, but sometimes I have to admit that the government come up with ideas that just make my jaw hit the floor. The problem as I see it is that there are a lot of well meaning civil servants working in places like parliament who come up with ideas, but they just don't really understand the mindset of the sorts of people they are trying to get through to. From my experience most of them are nice middle class people who have never really spent more than a few minutes with the folks that make up the dark underbelly of society. They are so out of their depth when it comes to thinking of ways to reach them they might as well be dealing with creatures from Proxima Centauri!

So now some bright spark as come up with the idea to get maxilliofacial (don't know if I spelled that quite right but I'm sure you'll get my drift) surgeons in to speak to youths about knife wounds. Now just for one minute imagine a nice super smart surgeon walking into a room full of chavs & getting bombarded with the sort of smart arsed comments that young chav types come out with. The poor bloke will probably need therapy afterwards. Also, please remember it was a Maxilliofacial surgeon who came up with the bright idea of having knives with no point so folks can't get stabbed. Guess he's never seen anyone stabbed with a screwdriver, chisel, awl, home made shank, pen, pencil, pointed stick etc! I'm just waiting to see who comes up with the idea for 'The Kitchen Police' to enforce a new 'Non pointy knives' law.

So Mr Civil Servant, here's my tuppence worth! A surgeon may be able to tell the kids in great detail the effects of a knife wound on the human body, but can they explain to them in vivid detail the terrible scene surrounding a knife attack? Can they get over to them the smell of the blood & other body fluids? Can they get over to them the feelings of rage/panic/terror? Can they explain to them the 'concequencial fallout' that everyone involved with the attacker & victim ends up affected by? Have they ever 'been there - done that'? Do they understand the mindset of the kids they are speaking to? Will the youths relate to them & respect them? The study by the Centres for Crime & Justice Studies pointed out that education programmes were the most effective method of reducing weapons carrying on a local basis, BUT that to be effective they had to be delivered by someone that the youths could identify with- NOT AN AUTHORITY FIGURE. Getting the police, teachers etc, to deliver the programme was a waste of time! Sorry Mr Civil Servant, but your surgeon is going to end up being a total waste of time too.

There ARE some folks in politics who 'get it' & have a realistic idea of what will work & what won't; & who are honest enough to listen to people like me who have experience that these Civil Servants don't- even though I may have ideas that are at odds with the 'accepted doctrine' most politicians believe (once again- intellectual honesty!). Alex Johnstone MSP is one- he has campaigned for the past couple of years for more effective approaches to combating violent crime & knife crime amongst our young people. Alex is rare amongst politicians in that he has experienced knife crime at first hand, & helped to apprehend a knife carrying criminal. My friend, Councillor Jim Millar, is another person who has his head firmly screwed on- as far as I'm concerned he has done more & put in more effort to effectively combat under-age drinking & anti social behaviour since he got in than some of the 'usual suspects' who have been on the local political scene for many years before him. These are the sorts of people we need to see being more involved in the strategic planning side of things within government!

How long are we going to see new initiatives that are long on 'smart' & short on 'reality'?