Rising knife crime

SIR – The Met Commissioner and the Mayor of London should not be surprised about knife crime increasing in the capital (report, January 2).

For decades police officers on the ground stretched the interpretation of the existing legislation and searched “suspect” individuals for knives.

This policy acted as a deterrent, but was then deemed racist and ineffective in detecting actual offences. The Home Office subsequently introduced measures which have indirectly forced officers, for fear of being faced with excessive paperwork or an official complaint against them, to move away from stop-and-search tactics. Sadly, law-abiding citizens in London and elsewhere are being put at risk. James Kirkwood

Kilmarnock, Ayrshire