POLICE IN LONDON have said that tackling knife crime remains a “top priority” following a “tragic ten days” of violence in the capital.
Two 17-year-olds were killed in separate stabbing incidents this weekend in London and Manchester.
Jodie Chesney was killed on Friday evening in a park in East London. Yousef Makki was killed in the village of Hale Barns on Saturday evening.
Their deaths – as well as several more deaths resulting from knife crime over the past few weeks – have sparked renewed calls for a dedicated office to tackle a rise in youth violence in the UK with West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner David Jamieson calling knife crime a “national emergency”.
Speaking today, the Met’s Deputy Assistant Commissioner Graham McNulty said that “one incident, one injury, one death is one too many” and that the police force has been “working day and night to make progress” in tackling knife crime in the capital.
More officers from the Met’s Violent Crime Taskforce have been put on duty, McNulty said, with extended shifts aimed at increasing visibility throughout London.
Over the last three days, police officers have conducted over 2,500 stop-and searches. “To give some idea of the scale of our activity around tackling knife crime, in the last 12 months we have seized thousands of weapons by utilising stop and search,” McNulty said today, in response to the recent violence.
“However, we are not complacent and I would appeal to the public to contact police if they are aware of anyone carrying a knife”.
Chesney’s death on Friday comes after David Lopez-Fernandez (38) died from stab wounds in Tower Hamlets in London on 25 February. Che Morrison (20) was stabbed to death in Ilford in London the following day.
McNulty has encouraged people who are not comfortable with contacting police to still act and to report knife possession.
“If you are not comfortable about speaking directly to police, please do contact Crimestoppers where you can provide information anonymously. By doing this, you could save a life.”
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