All secondary schools in London are to be offered knife detectors to check pupils for weapons as part of a major crackdown on growing knife crime in the capital.



Secondary schools across the city are being invited to apply for a metal detecting “wand” to screen students. In addition every school will get its own “safer schools” police officer as part of a package of measures announced by London’s mayor on Tuesday.

The wands are already being used by about a dozen schools in the capital, according to the mayor’s office. The plan is to extend their availability to other schools, particularly in areas where knife crime is most prevalent.

Announcing the crackdown, the London mayor, Sadiq Khan, said: “Every death on the streets of London is an utter tragedy, and I am deeply concerned about the rise in knife crime on London’s streets.



“Dozens of families have been bereaved; many more have seen their loved ones severely injured. We need to send a strong signal that carrying and using knives is totally and utterly unacceptable.

“And we need to do more to educate young people around the dangers of carrying knives if we are to cut injuries and deaths.”

According to the mayor’s office, 24 Londoners under the age of 25 have been fatally stabbed on London’s streets so far this year. Attacks with bladed weapons rose by 24% last year in London

But headteachers said the final decision on the use of security screening should be left up to individual schools.

“Knife wands may be a useful measure in preventing weapons being brought on to school premises, and school leaders are best placed to judge if, when and how to use them,” said Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders that represents many secondary school leaders.

“We would reassure the public that schools already have robust policies and procedures in place to protect their pupils, and that schools are supremely safe places.”

Schools will be invited to apply to the mayor’s office for a knife wand and will use them in consultation with both the mayor’s team and the Metropolitan police. A high-risk school may choose to use its detector regularly to screen students entering the premises, or at individual school events.

Cressida Dick, the Met police commissioner, said: “Despite everything that has been happening in London in recent weeks – knife crime remains a top priority for me and the Met.



“The reason for this is simple – far too many people are carrying knives, too many are committing crimes with those knives and too many are getting injured or killed.”

The mayor will spend an additional £625,000 on new knife and gang crime projects, taking total spending to £7m. Launching the new strategy, he called on the government to reverse cuts to youth services in the capital.

Between 2010 and 2016, youth service spending went down by £400m across the country. In London, £22m has been lost because of cuts to council funding, resulting in the closure of 30 youth centres – seen as central to helping in the fight against youth crime – and the loss of almost 13,000 places.

Khan said: “Young Londoners have lost tens of millions of pounds in funding for youth services since 2011 and this simply has to stop.

“The only way we can truly beat the scourge of knife crime on our streets is by properly funding youth services – the government needs to step up, reverse these cuts and help provide the services we need to tackle knife crime.”

Detailed figures available from 24 police forces across England and Wales found that 500 knives were among 700 weapons seized in schools in 2016-17 alone.

