Police seize scores of knives in a search of 4,000 suspects

by Dave Keating | May 30, 2008 at 04:17 am | 94 views | add comment

Following the bank holiday weekend of knife crime in the UK, the police are continuing a major crackdown, unveiling an ad campaign showing the dangers of knives and seizing thousands of knives from young people.

More than four thousand people have been stopped and searched in London in the past two weeks as police try to address public concern over young people carrying knives.

The £1 million operation has led to the seizure of almost 200 weapons and to 210 arrests. Officers have used airport-style search arches and metal-detecting wands on the streets.

The Home Office announced an advertising campaign yesterday with shocking images of the damage that can be done with a knife. One shows a man with a knife sticking out of his stomach, and another shows a hand from which the thumb has been severed.

Although the campaig