LONDON, June 28 (Xinhua) -- London Mayor Sadiq Khan announced Tuesday that every school in London is to be offered knife detectors to enable students to be screened for hidden weapons.
It forms one part of the biggest ever campaign in London against knife crime which so far this year has caused 24 people aged 25 or under stabbed to death on the streets of London.
Just this week, London's Metropolitan Police (Met) have launched three separate murder investigations following stabbings in Canning Town, East Ham and Islington.
The Met Tuesday revealed that during a week-long campaign, known as Operation Sceptre, 518 knives, 11 firearms and 50 offensive weapons were recovered in police operations. Police officers made a total of 622 arrests, including 180 for possession of a knife or an offensive weapon.
Khan said, "No young Londoner should have to accept crime and violence as a way of life. We are working to provide them with the skills, the resources and the confidence they need to turn away from knives and lead the life they deserve in our city."
The mayor has launched a new tough and comprehensive Knife Crime Strategy, with an additional 800,000 U.S. dollars for knife and gang crime projects. Total spending in his war on knives and gang crime was 9 million U.S. dollars.
Measures in Khan's initiative include empowering communities with funds to do more to protect young people and spread the message that carrying a knife is more likely to ruin your life than to save it
More prevention and police work will also be introduced to crack down on offenders and get dangerous weapons off London's streets.
Khan's office said there will be more support for Met police officers to use more targeted, intelligence-led stop and search, with a call for London's communities to help provide the intelligence needed.
"When incidents of knife crime increase, people should expect the use of stop and search to increase. 74 percent of Londoners, and 58 percent of young people said they support the use of stop and search to tackle knife crime in a recent survey," said a spokesman for the mayor's office.
The mayor's office said that between 2014 and 2015, knife crime in London rose by 5 percent. In 2016 knife crime across England and Wales rose by 14 percent, compared to 11 percent in London.
