The Met was praised today by the Home Secretary after removing nearly 200 weapons from the streets and making more than 1,000 arrests in a week as part of a nationwide crackdown on knife crime.
Priti Patel said the results showed the Met’s “determination to confront this threat head on” as Scotland Yard described the extent of the seizures, which include 58 other offensive weapons, as “staggering”.
It added that the success will have saved lives but warned that further enforcement action would remain necessary as it strives to reduce the number of young Londoners being killed and injured with knives.
Announcing the outcome of the crackdown, which was part of the nationwide anti-knife crime Operation Sceptre, the Met said that there had also been 564 seizures of drugs and associated “illegal items”, and 2,900 weapons sweeps in public places.
Other tactics used included the deployment of knife arches and drug dogs around transport hubs.
Numerous homes were searched and the overall outcome included the seizure of 187 knives and 1,002 arrests.
Commander Jane Connors said the results showed her officers were “relentlessly doing all they can to reduce knife crime and violence in the capital”.
The Home Secretary said: “Knife crime is a scourge on our society and the streets of our capital city.”
The Met added it had referred 44 adults and children to intervention programmes.
It had also provided presentations in schools on the dangers of knife crime and sought to work with shops to ensure blades were not sold inappropriately.
Meanwhile, cannabis with a street value of £1 million has been seized from a barricaded property on the North Circular road after a tip off from the public. Detectives said such cannabis farms funded “career criminals” who used “extreme violence” as part of their unlawful activities.
