SCHOOLS will be forced to install knife arches following the 41st murder in the capital this year. Met Police officers will also have the power to stop and search on the streets — without proving reasonable grounds to suspect that person is carrying a weapon. The latest crackdown on weapon carrying has been introduced in […]
SCHOOLS will be forced to install knife arches following the 41st murder in the capital this year.
Met Police officers will also have the power to stop and search on the streets — without proving reasonable grounds to suspect that person is carrying a weapon.
The latest crackdown on weapon carrying has been introduced in Lambeth, Wandsworth and Merton in south London.
Scotland Yard has justified the decision after an 18-year-old boy was stabbed in Clapham last Wednesday and four people including an 11-year-old girl were injured after being attacked with a shotgun in a park in Mitcham in March.
Knife arches will be introduced in schools across the three south London boroughs to tackle the growing amount of youth violence.
Chief Superintendent and Basic Command Unit (BCU) for south west London Sally Benatar said: “Knife arches will be in place at schools over the next two weeks and officers have increased reassurance patrols around the Balham area in light of last Wednesday’s stabbing.
“We prioritise effective safeguarding, and our schools officers are working hard to protect and educate our young people in the dangers of carrying knives.”
Previously cops had to prove reasonable grounds to suspect a person is carrying a weapon to stop and search them.
But now officers in parts of south London will be able to stop and search people in the street for no reason at all.
Chief Superintendent Benatar said: “Following these distressing events, we decided to implement the use of stop and search powers using Section 60 Criminal Justice and Public Order Act.
“When it comes to long-term solutions to violent crime, we encourage the proactive use of stop and search where reasonable grounds exist.
“This proves to be one of our most effective means of taking dangerous weapons off the street.
“Tackling violent crime remains a top priority for the Met, and goes hand-in-hand with our particular BCU priorities of putting victims first and preventing harm.”
But Section 60 is only a temporary power with a time and geographical limit.
The additional power was introduced in Wandsworth, Merton and Lambeth over the weekend.
Across the two days more than 20 people were stopped in the area where the teenager was stabbed last Wednesday.
The bloody incident was just one episode in a horrific knife crime epidemic plaguing the capital.
On the same day, a 21-year-old man was stabbed to death in a string of four stabbings in just seven hours.
And four days before that rampage, two men in their 20s were rushed to hospital after they were stabbed in East London.
Figures from the Metropolitan Police showed that knife crime surged by 16 per cent in the capital year-on-year in 2018, as Britain’s crime epidemic continues.
There were 1,299 stabbings in London up to the end of April, according to official statistics from Scotland Yard.
In 2017-18, there were 137 knife offences for every 100,000 people in the capital.
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