'Stop and search makes gangs stronger'

The former head of the Metropolitan Police's murder prevention unit has warned that the force's use of stop and search to tackle knife crime could make gangs stronger.

Laura Richards, who is a criminal behavioural psychologist, believes the tactic could further alienate marginalised young men and drive them into the arms of gangs.

But the Metropolitan Police said stop and search was only one part of its anti-knife crime strategy and it sent a "visible message" to young people that its aim was to keep them safe.

Ms Richards, who ran the Met's Homicide Prevention Unit for four years, described stop and search as a "sticking plaster" on the problem of knife crime.

She added: "I think a lot more could be being done as opposed to just a hard edged enforcement around stop and search.

"We're seeing (that) a number of guys committing the murders are already marginalised, already excluded and we are trying those kind of tactics on those individuals, I fear we just make the problem worse."

A Metropolitan Police spokesman said stop and search was a key part of the force's anti-knife crime strategy and its special taskforce 'Blunt 2', which sends teams of officers into stabbing hotspots.

Scotland Yard figures show officers carried out 48,869 stop and searches in May, June and July this year.

The spokesman continued: "There were 1,592 arrests during that period for possession of knives and other weapons. As a result of that, 1,445 knives are off the streets."

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