Rise in knife crime blamed on declining use of stop and search

‘There needs to be more early intervention’: Pride of Britain finalist Janette Collins

A rise in knife crime in London could be down to declining police use of stop and search, two youth workers have suggested.

Kelly Reid from The Crib, an initiative in Hackney that promotes awareness of gun and knife crime, said: “In the last three and a half years, at the same time as stop and search has been reduced, knife crime has gone up.”

She added: “If the stats are saying that, there must be something in it.”

And she told the Hackney Citizen youngsters were bearing the brunt of rising knife violence, warning: “It’s not adults that are being killed, it’s young people.”

Janette Collins, the founder of The Crib who is tonight among the finalists for this year’s Pride of Britain Awards, agreed.

She added: “Knife crime has risen and we are looking into it. It hasn’t gone away, and there needs to be more early intervention.”

The comments come after a spate of stabbings in the Dalston and Newington Green areas.

The most recent incident took place in the vicinity of King Henry’s Walk and involved a 17-year-old who was stabbed in the hand and leg.

He was taken to hospital with injuries said not to be life threatening or life changing.

Last week two other men, understood to be in their 20s were found stabbed in Templeton Close, Dalston.

Among critics of an apparent clampdown on police use of stop and search is retired Met officer Chris Hobbs.

He has warned that catching people who carry blades has become harder in recent years because of limitations around use of stop and search – and he too says young people are those most affected.

He told specialist publication Police Oracle last year: “If I were a gang member I would think I’d stand a much better chance of getting away with carrying a knife on the streets of London now.”

In 2014, Theresa May, then Home Secretary, outlined reforms of stop and search powers after saying more than a million street searches may have been carried out illegally by police in England and Wales in the previous year.

She advocated more “intelligence-led” operations and an overall reduction in use of the powers. However, arguments over the issue continue – in London in particular.

At a recent meeting of the London Assembly’s Police and Crime Committee, deputy mayor for policing Sophie Linden, a former Hackney councillor, was asked by Conservative politician Gareth Bacon to define the term “intelligence-led”.

Bacon claimed her answer showed she did not have an adequate definition and called for police to be allowed to use their discretion more.