Tackling knife crime ‘could take 10 years’

CRIME: The Mayor of London Sadiq Khan has warned that it could take a generation to turn the tide of violent crime – using the successful example set in Glasgow – after four fatal stabbings occurred in less than a week.

THE MAYOR of London has warned it could take a generation to turn the tide of violent crime after four fatal stabbings in less than a week.

Sadiq Khan stressed that the success which has been seen in Glasgow at stopping bloodshed showed that similar efforts in London would take time.

He has adopted the public health approach used by authorities in the Scottish city, where bodies such as health, education, social services, housing and police worked together to stop young people becoming involved in crime. The mayor said: “It will take some time. I know that because of the lessons we’ve learnt from places like Glasgow, where it took them some time to turn this round.

“To really make significant progress can take up to 10 years, a generation.

“They saw in Scotland what we are seeing in London, which is children in primary schools thinking not only is it OK to carry a knife, but it gives them a sense of belonging in joining a criminal gang and it makes them feel safer and they see nothing wrong in getting involved in this sort of behaviour.”

Concerns over violent crime have been renewed after four murders in five days in the capital. Yorkshire has also seen rising knife crime, with five fatal stabbings in a six-month period in Sheffield alone.

Home Office Minister Victoria Atkins blamed a change in the nature of crime, rather than cuts in police numbers, for the recent spike in gang-related violence in London and other cities.

Speaking on yesterday’s Radio 4’s Today programme, she said a government review had shown that “the claim about police numbers isn’t supported by the evidence of previous spikes in serious violence”.

Ms Atkins added: “We are all, I think, realising that the nature of crime is changing. Of course, violence has been around as long as human beings have been around, but we have seen – and the Met Commissioner herself has talked about – the ways in which gangs are much more ruthless than they used to be.

“The levels of violence which doctors are now seeing in A&Es show that incidents which before perhaps wouldn’t have resulted in fatalities now are resulting in fatalities.

“We and the police and others have to face up to the reality that criminals are changing their crime types and we have to be able to tackle that.”

However, Mr Khan told the broadcaster: “The Home Office’s own officials, in a leaked document, said there is a link between police officer numbers going down and crime going up.”

Asked about Mr Khan’s suggestion that it could take a generation to turn the tide on violence, the Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: “It’s something we need to be focused on finding solutions to from today.”

Metropolitan Police Commander Stuart Cundy said yesterday that it had been a “terrible” few days in the capital as he announced that hundreds more police officers would be on duty.

He said: “Tragically, we have had four murders since Wednesday of last week, none of them are connected.

“That’s four families, four groups of friends and acquaintances, who have all been tragically affected by this senseless violence.”

The Met Police’s violent crime taskforce has carried out more than 21,000 weapons searches since April, seizing hundreds of guns and knives.

There have now been 116 homicides in London so far this year.

Gangs are much more ruthless than they used to be.

Victoria Atkins, Home Office minister.