Last updated on May 8th, 2023 at 11:42 am
Reading Time: 3 minutesToday I shall be polite, I will even say please.
I seem to have lost track completely of the number of news items, Tweets, Facebook entries etc etc that relate to Stabbings, Shootings Murders, and Seizure of Bladed Articles that have sprung up in just the last few weeks. It is an incredible number, or so it seems.
And it isn’t just in London, just recently we have had
Man arrested over stabbing in Preston
Three men stabbed outside London chess club
Man rushed to hospital after ‘stabbing’ on Mansfield Road
Man stabbed outside Gloucester Cathedral
Boyfriend charged with murdering woman, 21, found stabbed to death near the pony sanctuary where she worked
They are just a few of the recent, lurid, headlines. Not good.
Only last night we heard of a double-shooting in Wood Green, London. One fatal, one critical.
‘Zombie killer’ knife measuring two feet long found stashed in bush http://t.co/XmLbeAEVqB pic.twitter.com/pQXPB4pIbC
— HuffPost UK (@HuffPostUK) July 9, 2015
@Peter_Kirkham Police Officer was stabbed in YE yesterday and was saved by Metvest & colleague with a Taser. — PC_Angry (@PC_Angry) July 11, 2015
However, I’ve since noticed the sheer amount of knife crime in London. It is scary. @from_Paddington@4Policing@obbsie@MikePannett
— Secret Ledger (@secret_ledger) July 10, 2015
Disturbing video shows Hackney gang threaten to stab Good Samaritan who intervened in bike theft. http://t.co/wn2io3QaXX — Chris Hobbs (@obbsie) July 10, 2015
Found by uniformed officers during a #weaponssweep y/day in the Glassmill area & taken off the streets . #Lifesaving pic.twitter.com/LvgsE4Drvj
— Lewisham MPS (@MPSLewisham) July 12, 2015
What do all of these (and all the others) have in common?
I’ll tell you Home Secretary. The Common Denominator is that all of these cases the weapons were carried, in one form or another, through the streets.
In April last year you announced a major reform of Stop and Search:-
Stop and search: Theresa May announces reform of police stop and search
In February this year you reiterated your views
Rein in stop and search, May tells police: Home Secretary says she will change the law if forces do not halt ‘excessive and inappropriate’ use of powers
You are entitled to your opinions Home Secretary, of course you are, but so are we.
Speaking for myself I do not know a single Police Officer (and I know many) who uses Stop and Search as a tool to wind up any sector of the community, BME or otherwise. ONE of the main issues for Stop and Search is the Protect Life i.e. stop and search for weapons etc. This is about Saving Lives. Not to mention the fact that every single Police Officer who conducts a Stop/Search for Weapons potentially puts themselves in harm’s way to do so. Do you really think that they’re doing that for a laugh? To wind up a section of the community? No, they’re doing it because it’s their job, to Protect Life, Maintain Public Tranquility.
Under existing legislation, and you should know this, EVERY single Stop/Search has to be Justified. There have to be Grounds. Afterwards, the record of that Stop/Search has to be signed off by a Supervising Officer. The person stop/searched has the right to request a copy of that written record, and must be so informed. What on earth is wrong with that? Where is that inadequate accountability?
Do you REALLY want to stop the Police from taking weapons off our streets?
I have been polite Home Secretary, maybe you could do me the honour of responding.
I thank you.
STOP PRESS
I have now been informed of a fatal stabbing in Llanridod Wells last week, even in rural Wales knives are a problem. Please Home Secretary, if you don’t like Stop n Search, tell us how we may find the weapons and take them off the streets, and so protect our Public.
There is no reason at all for these ‘Zombie Killer’ knives to be available in the UK, we are not, currently. Overrun with Zombies. Just imagine the damage they can do. This was seized recently.
Stop and search what a great tool that the anti-police lobby hate! Stopped and searched a group of black youths as part of Op Blunt got abuse from parents called racist until I explained that we were there specifically because black youths were stabbing other black youths from different estates and we were trying to stop that ! Families appreciated over efforts when it was explained to them!Another time stopped a burglar nothing found a week later a Ds in the burglary squad asks for a statement as he was forensically linked to a burglary in the area just after I stopped him and I put him there at the right time!