Yard hires chief who called knife crime ‘a disease’

SCOTLAND YARD has stepped up its efforts to treat knife crime as a disease by hiring a police chief who oversaw a similar model credited with halving murders in Glasgow.

Sir Stephen House was yesterday named as the incoming deputy commissioner of the Metropolitan Police and will start a fiveyear contract in January.

Sir Stephen, the former chief constable of Police Scotland, was in charge of policing when Scotland’s eight regional forces merged in 2013.

During his period in office he led the police during a long-term programme in Glasgow, where the homicide rate in a city once dubbed the murder capital of western Europe has halved.

The model, lead by a team called the Violence Reduction Unit, offered teenage gang members a way out of crime through education, training and mentoring with social workers and teachers involved too. It was set up by Strathclyde Police in 2005.

Last week The Daily Telegraph revealed how Sajid Javid, the Home Secretary, was set to announce a similar programme where violence should be treated like an infectious disease to stem the sharp rises in knife and gun crime, which has engulfed the capital this year.

Last month Sadiq Khan, the Mayor of London, made £500,000 available for a similar scheme in London based on Glasgow’s huge success.

Sir Stephen joins the Met after standing down from Police Scotland in 2015, saying the time was right for him to take up a new challenge. His departure from Police Scotland, however, followed controversy over the deaths of John Yuill and Lamara Bell, who lay for three days undiscovered following a car crash on the M9 motorway. The crash had been reported to police but officers later admitted it had not been followed up.

The Home Secretary celebrated the promotion of the officer. Mr Javid said: “Sir Stephen has demonstrated his leadership qualities. He is the right choice to help steer the country’s biggest force, particularly in its work tackling violent crime in the capital.”