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A senior police adviser teaching officers to conduct “polite” stop and searches has said the controversial tactic cannot stop London’s blade epidemic on its own.

Pastor Lorraine Jones, whose son Dwayne Simpson, 20, was stabbed to death in 2014, believes closing the gulf between police and youths will prevent killings like the seven latest seen in just eight days in the capital.

Ms Jones, whose work steering youngsters away from crime has been praised by the Duchess of Cornwall, said: “Stop and search is only one solution to keep our children safe.

"There are 13- and 14-year-olds with walking sticks, not because they’re soldiers fighting a war. These children have been stabbed or shot in the leg coming from school, the shop or a friend’s house.”

Police in Lambeth — where Ms Jones, 46, is chairwoman of the Met’s Independent Advisory Group — are being taught to introduce themselves to suspects by saying “good afternoon, sir or madam” before searches.

Youngsters are also educated about their rights at workshops held with senior police. Many are not aware they can ask officers to switch on body-worn cameras or ask for a record of their stop.

Police have used Section 60 powers after the new violence, allowing random searches in a specific area for a limited period. But Ms Jones said an 11-year-old boy stopped by five police officers in Lambeth received an apology after it emerged he was running home to collect football boots. The Met says stop and search helped cut the murder rate in London by a quarter in the past year.

Ms Jones used a grant from the Standard’s Dispossessed Fund to start Dwaynamics, a Brixton boxing club in memory of her son, killed in Angell Town.