London knife amnesty proposed
The Mayor of London Boris Johnson is considering the introduction of a knife amnesty across the capital, following a spike in stabbings.
The Mayor of London Boris Johnson is considering the introduction of a knife amnesty across the capital, following a spike in stabbings.
Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) data shows that knife crime with injury rose by 11 per cent in the last year, with 3,657 incidents in the year to October 2015, compared with 3,288 in the previous 12 months.
Nearly half of incidents in the last year involved young people; an increase of 11 per cent on the previous annual figures.
Labour London Assembly Member Jennette Arnold, who represents the boroughs of Hackney, Islington and Waltham Forest which have seen almost half of the 15 teenage stabbings that have occurred this year has called for the Mayors support for her measure in order to put a stop to the destruction of young lives.
We cannot afford for the Mayor to sit on his hands and allow this [knife crime] to continue to rise. Something must be done to buck the worrying trend of young people carrying knives, she said.
If allowing individuals to hand in their knives without fear of prosecution gets these weapons off our streets then it is an exercise well worth doing.
Knife crime has also risen for the first time since 2008. There were 9,972 incidents in London in the year to October 2015, a five per cent increase from the preceding year.
A spokesperson for the Mayor of London said Mr Johnson is taking knife crime very seriously and is committed to working with the MPS to explore all options, including an amnesty, to crack down on the problem.