Summary
THE outpouring of grief over the stabbing of Ben Kinsella, a teenager caught up in a knife fight in Islington, has given fresh impetus to the campaign by the Mayor and the Metropolitan Police against knife crime in London. In the past six weeks, as we report today, the Met has carried out 21,500 stop-andsearches, recovered 500 weapons and arrested more than 1,000 people. On the streets and in some Tube stations, they are using metal screening arches and metal-detection wands. The stop-and-search initiative is being carried out under Section 60 special powers, which give police the right to stop and search individuals without having reasonable suspicion that they may be involved in crime. These are highly controversial tactics but they are yielding results. And in the present climate of fear in the capital about gang violence they are unfortunately necessary.
Knife crime accounts for a small percentage of violent crime but it is increasing last year, 16 young people were killed; this year, to date, the total is already 17. The loss of these young lives cannot be dismissed as statistically insignificant. And these stabbings are themselves the culmination of countless acts of aggression and petty intimidation in areas dominated by teenage gangs.See the full content of this document
Extract
Getting a Grip On Gang Culture ; Comment
Even Cherie Blair said yesterday that she feared for her o...
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