LONDON — On the very last day of a year in which crimes involving knives surged in London — and became a hot-button political issue — the police took solving one case to an extreme.

After a man was found stabbed on a street in West London early Monday, 39 people were arrested on suspicion of attempted murder.

It is the largest number of suspects to have been arrested this year for a stabbing in London, a spokeswoman for the Metropolitan Police Service confirmed.

A man thought to be in his mid-30s was found injured after a stabbing was reported in the Hammersmith and Fulham neighborhood just before 1 a.m. The police said the man had been chased by a number of people following an argument in a nearby shop, and two knives were recovered close to the scene.