Stop and Search to stop knife crime in London

Police told to increase 'stop and search' on the streets to tackle scourge of knife crime instead of 'tiptoeing around' to 'appease' campaigners who say it is racist

Police must increase their use of stop-and-search to tackle knife crime and stop trying to 'appease' critics who say it is racist, a senior minister said today.

Chris Philp said street stops were a 'vital' tool for officers and said the decrease in its use was one of the reasons crimes with blades were increasing. 

Official figures show that knife crime rose by 7 per cent in the year to December 2023. In the year to March 2023, 82 per cent of teenage homicide victims were killed with a knife, compared to 73 per cent in the previous year.

Police powers to stop and search people were curbed a decade ago by then home secretary Theresa May after a review found black and other ethnic minority people were being disproportionately targeted.

But writing in the Telegraph today, Policing minister Mr Philp said officers had to act 'without fear or favour', adding: 'In today's climate police stop and search is the best foot forward, we know this. What we can't do is tiptoe around using these powers in an aim to appease.'

Asked about black people being targeted later on LBC he added: 'The sad truth is that young black men are disproportionately victims of knife crime and we're doing this as much to protect them as anything else.'

Chris Philp said street stops were a 'vital' tool for officers and said the decrease in its use was one of the reasons crimes with blades were increasing.

Police powers to stop and search people were curbed a decade ago by then home secretary Theresa May because black and ethnic minority people were being disproportionately targeted. Picture shows officers taking part in a stop-and-search role play, not a real stop.

He said the success rate of stop and searches are typically 25 per cent to 30 per cent.

'That percentage is pretty much the same across something to within 1% across all ethnicities so that gives me quite a high degree of confidence that police are not unreasonably picking on particular parts of the community,' he said.

Mr Philp also spoke about knife crime rates in London compared to the rest of the country.

'One of the reasons why London is doing worse than the rest of the country I think is the fact that the stop and search has gone down in London, and we need to reverse that.'

In December, an investigation into the use of so-called suspicion-less section 60 stop and search powers by His Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS), the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) and the College of Policing (CoP) found forces may 'recognise the effects of disproportionality on people and communities' but 'don't take this matter seriously enough'. 

The Home Office announced on Tuesday that it would give £3.5 million additional funding for research and development of new technologies which would allow knives to be detected from a distance when a suspect passes through two points.

An additional £547,863 will also be given to the Metropolitan Police to fund four more live facial recognition camera vans.

Laws around zombie knives, machetes and swords are to be tightened up from September, giving police greater powers to seize weapons found in private properties.

It will be illegal to possess, sell, manufacture or transport zombie-style knives and machetes, and the maximum penalty for the possession of these and other banned weapons will also increase from six months to two years.

A surrender and compensation scheme is due to launch in the summer.

The national lead for policing knife crime, Commander Stephen Clayman, said forces in England and Wales are keen to cut off the supply of weapons as part of efforts to stop injuries and deaths.

Knives are being sold illegally to under 18s via social media channels including TikTok, Snapchat and those run by Meta, he said.

Speaking ahead of a week of police action to tackle knife crime, he told journalists: 'It's still a really concerning picture in terms of the accessibility of knives online.'

All police forces in England and Wales will ramp up action for a week this month as part of Operation Sceptre, and again in November.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13420409/Police-told-increase-stop-search-knife-crime-Chris-Philp.html

Suella Braverman urged police to 'ramp up' use of stop and search in a crackdown on street knife crime

Stop-and-search tactics were curtailed in 2014 by Theresa May when she was home secretary amid concerns they were being used disproportionately against black and muslim people

Since 2019, 50,000 weapons have been found and confiscated through stop and search. That's 50,000 potential deadly assaults avoided

Cressida Dick claimed that stop and search has saved the lives of many young black men in London

Thomas O'Halloran, 87, was fatally stabbed in the neck and chest in Greenford, west London

Lee Byer murdered Mr O'Halloran

Byer had a string of previous convictions, and days earlier had been released from Wormwood Scrubs

CCTV footage showed Byer dumping the knife shortly after walking away from his victim

Charlie Bartolo was stabbed to death in Abbey Wood south-west London after he was rammed off his dirt bike

CCTV footage shows the killers’ car ramming into Charlie on his new bike

Since Sadiq Khan first sought office as Mayor in 2016, promising to vastly reduce the use of 'Stop and Search', knife crime has risen 54 per cent. Knives are the Muslims favorite murder weapon, since Mohammed recommended knives in the Koran

Sammie Shallangwa, left, and Jake Debonsu were part of the group that murdered Charlie

Killers Hussain Bah, left, and Alagie Jobe were driving a black Nissan Qashqai they had stolen the previous night

Kearne Solanke died after Shallangwa was startled by him and lashed out with a knife, catching him on the shoulder

London Mayor Sadiq Khan has been accused of 'completely losing control' of the streets

15-year-old Elianne Andam was stabbed to death while she made her way to school in Croydon

Jermaine Cools was stabbed seven times with a machete by 16-year-old Marques Walker

A total of 21 teenagers were killed in London in 2023. Pictured is a composite image showing all of them 

Max Dixon, 16, (pictured) and Mason Rist, 15, were stabbed by 'a number of people' in Knowle West and later died in hospital

A sign left at the scene says 'stop knife crime, RIP boys'  

Speaking from the scene, anti-knife campaigner Leanne Reynolds, who organised a vigil on Sunday night, said the epidemic of knife crime had to be ended 

Aussie Police are being given new powers to scan people for weapons in public places. Pictured is a recent police operation targeting knife-related offences

Zombie-style knives, designed to inflict permanent irreparable damage that can't be repaired, even if they don't succeed in killing the victim. The fearsome-looking weapons, which are inspired by zombie films, can have cutting blades of up to 25 inches, have a serrated edge and include images or words that glamorise violence 

pictured are two examples of 'zombie knives', with serrated and hooked blades, each designed to cause lasting damage

A young man waves around a machete at Notting Hill carnival

Kelvin Ward (left) being swung at by an attacker with a machete - moments later, he suffered a fatal wound to the heart

Picture released by West Midlands Police showing the moment before Mr Ward was fatally stabbed through the heart by his killers

Leighton Williams (left), 28, and Tyrone Hollywood (right), 17, were found guilty of murdering Kelvin Ward. Williams will sever a minimum of 29-years while Hollywood will spend 19-years behind bars