Press Release

Mayor welcomes dedicated police team to tackle youth knife crime
4-7-2008   347

Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, today backed the Metropolitan Police Service’s (MPS) decision to establish a dedicated 75-strong Blunt 2 taskforce to bear down on youth knife crime.

These teams will build on the co-ordinated activity already being carried out under borough-wide Blunt 2 operations and will work in the areas of London worst affected by knife crime.

This announcement comes in the wake of the tragic murder of 16-year-old Shakilus Townsend, who was fatally stabbed in Thornton Heath yesterday (Thursday, 3 July). Shakilus is the 18th teenager to be killed in London this year.

Earlier this week, the Mayor and the Metropolitan Police Commissioner announced that 1,214 people had been arrested during the Metropolitan Police’s Operation Blunt 2 crackdown on knife crime in the capital. During just six weeks of the operation, between 19th May - 29th June 2008, a total of 26,777 searches were conducted and 528 knives recovered as part of the operation.

Kit Malthouse, Deputy Mayor for Policing, said:

‘Yet another death on London’s streets means that we must re-double our efforts to protect young people and deter them from carrying knives. I am extremely pleased that the Metropolitan Police are ramping up their already significant efforts on Operation Blunt 2.

‘We have said repeatedly that, as an administration, we will take responsibility for this issue and we are pleased that the Metropolitan Police feel the same way.

‘18 young people dead in six months is completely unacceptable and we will do everything in our power, in the short-term, to bear down on the immediate problem, while recognising that the ultimate solution lies in more complex and longer-term interventions that turn the faces of our children away from a life of violence’.

Ends

Notes to Editors

1. Senior officers have been tasked to review all current police operations and to identify whether further officers can be diverted to support the effort locally in areas where the knife problem is causing the most concern, particularly over the approaching school summer holidays.
2. Operation Blunt figures
1,214 people were arrested for possession of weapons (950 arrests for possession of knives and other weapons and 264 arrests for crimes involving use of knives)
26,777 searches were conducted
528 knives recovered
(Figures from 19th May to- 29th June 2008)
3. Operation Blunt 2 successes so far include:
- A mother contacting police in Lewisham after finding a knife under her 17-year-old son’s bed on 18th June.  Police seized the knife and officers from the local Safer Neighbourhoods’ Team discussed issues with the teenager and his mother. The youth has been replaced on a local support and diversionary programme through the local Youth Offending Team.
- An east London shopkeeper handed in his entire stock of 300 lock-knives to police in a personal stand against knife crime. Father-of-four Nadeem Nasir, 45, approached Police Community Support Officers on routine patrol in Barking Road, East Ham, on Monday, 23rd June, and asked how he could dispose of his stock of lock knives. Officers have removed the entire stock from “Bits and Bobs” store in Barking Road.
- A 16-year-old youth from Camberwell was given a six-month detention and training order after being found in possession of a lock-knife. He was riding his scooter when he was stopped and searched. Officers found the weapon hidden in his shoe.  He pleaded guilty to possession of a weapon and riding the scooter without insurance when he appeared at Camberwell Magistrates Court on 18th June.
- 20 youths arrested and 18 weapons recovered from a bus in Lewisham.
- Eight knives recovered from a bin in Southwark.
- School children engaging with local officers at search arches on the borough of Barking and Dagenham, showing their support by handing out Blunt2 leaflets.
- The Met’s Volunteer Cadets supported operations by trading standards’ officers in nine boroughs during May 2008. Members of the Volunteer Cadet Corp were deployed for a total of 249 hours in supporting these operations.
4. Operation Blunt 2 background:
Operation Blunt 2 was launched on May 14th 2008 to tackle the unacceptable levels of serious youth violence with knives being carried and used on London's streets.  Since then highly visible police patrols have used an extra 100 knife arches and 200 more wands / scanners to deter and detect knives. Police have used Section 60 powers, which allow them to stop and search people without 'a reasonable suspicion'. The Met has handled this sensitively by explaining to communities why they are using these new powers and as far as possible share intelligence. And 150 schools will get safer schools police officers.

5. On May 15th the Mayor visited Elephant and Castle to see Operation Blunt 2 in action. More: www.london.gov.uk/view_press_release.jsp?releaseid=16915
The 10 boroughs where the problems of knife crime are most prevalent are the focus, but activity is also taking place in all 32 boroughs.

For media enquiries please call Hasina Momtaz or Joe Derrett in the Mayor’s Press Office on 020 7983 4064/4754

For out of hours media enquiries please call 020 7983 4000.
For non-media enquiries please call the Public Liaison Unit on 020 7983 4100.

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