03/07/2008

Operation Blunt Makes Sharp Progress

Operation Blunt II has seen a recovery of more than 500 knives, it has been announced.

London's Mayor Boris Johnson and Commissioner Sir Ian Blair announced the figures at a joint press conference at City Hall detailing the activity to target knife crime in the capital.

Sir Ian said: "We need, as the whole community of London, to reach out to young people and their parents to help them get rid of the knives on our streets and provide them with alternatives to crime and gang membership. I really admire those, for instance, who organised the demonstration in Islington yesterday.

"Since Operation Blunt II started London-wide on 19 May, up until 29 June, the Met has carried out nearly 27,000 searches in this operation, arrested over 1,200 people for offences connected to knives, either those who are carrying or people already wanted for knife enabled crime, and we have seized over 500 knives."

Sir Ian added that two and a half times the number of people were arrested and prosecuted compared to last September.

A news source has reported that 528 knives have been seized.

Mayor Johnson said: "Everybody is shocked by the level of violence we are seeing, particularly towards young people in London and we must all work as hard as we can together to reverse this dreadful trend.

"Operation Blunt II is an important part of the fight back against the terrible scourge of knife crime."

Sir Ian has pledged that each of the cases would be "tracked through the courts so that the outcomes could be properly monitored".

The Met chief has also acknowledged that a "culture change is needed".

"The dreadful murder of Ben Kinsella shows that the problem of knife crime is still with us," he said.

Operation Blunt II was launched to tackle serious youth violence with knives being carried and used on London's streets.

See: Police Hunt Woman In Stab Death

(DS)


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