Police seize 300 knives, over 800 people in London stopped and searched
Almost 400 people were arrested last week in London in an intense operation to tackle knife crime. The Operation Sceptre taskforce includes around 100 officers deployed to knife crime hotspots.
Metropolitan Police officers carried out numerous weapon sweeps and intelligence-led policing operations to confiscate knives and tackle those wanted in connection with knife-related offences and violent crime in phase eight of Operation Sceptre.
According to data made available by the Met, during the week of action, a total of 393 arrests were made, including 73 arrests for possession of an offensive weapon/knife. During the same period, officers made 1,080 weapon sweeps and seized 300 knives and 62 offensive weapons. Officers also recovered 15 firearms and stopped and searched 822 people.
loading...
“This operation carries a positive and powerful message: this is about all of us addressing a problem that often has tragic consequences. This behaviour is damaging our communities; there is no excuse, people are better than this and our communities are better than this,” Detective Chief Superintendent Michael Gallagher, the Met’s ‘Silver lead’ for knife crime, said.
In the last 12 months, officers have been delivering educational packages and have so far reached more than 14,000 young people across London. The delivery of these packages aims to make youngsters think about the decisions they make and the possible consequences of their action, as well as diverting them away from joining gangs which could ultimately result in a life of crime.
The Metropolitan Police Service has published its end-of-year crime statistics for 2016-2017 and according to data, the number of knife crimes is on the rise, with 12,074 such crimes in the past year compared to 9,742 in the 2015-2016 period.
Loading...