News

The Mayor of London has invited Londoners to have their say on his new draft Police and Crime Plan. The draft Plan sets out the Mayor’s priorities to make the capital a safer city. Despite a decline in overall homicides, the number of teenage homicides in London has increased this year. Driving down crime and attempting to prevent violence and the loss of young lives is at the heart of the Mayor’s priorities for this term.

Will the draft plan make an impact on policing and crime in Waltham Forest? Does the Mayor need to go further? Do you have any ideas on how crime can be reduced in your ward? 

The plan contains commitments to:

• prioritise resources to places where the risk of violence is highest and implement a new Problem Oriented Policing (POP) approach;

• continue the London Violence Reduction Unit’s delivery against its current strategy which prioritises supporting young people, with a range of programmes aimed at reducing risks faced by young Londoners; supporting them in staying safe and putting in place long-term arrangements to provide positive opportunities for young people to fulfil their potential;

• MOPAC and the VRU will intensify focus on understanding and addressing the relationship between drugs and violence in London including establishing a London Drugs Commission comprising independent experts and leading figures from the fields of criminal justice, public health, politics, community relations and academia. The Commission will pull together the latest evidence on the effectiveness of our drugs laws, but with particular focus on cannabis;

• ending the criminal exploitation of young Londoners by gangs and wider criminal networks, a known driver of violence affecting young people in London. As well as supporting the MPS to crack down on the organised criminals preying on young people to deal drugs, the Rescue and Response programme will continue its work to better understand, target and respond to County Lines offending and victimisation;

• investing in the provision of support for young people impacted by violence – including those seen to be offenders but have also often experienced victimisation – to reduce the risk of violence to both themselves and others. This includes specialist support to young victims of violence requiring hospital treatment; young victims of crime linked to gangs; and those wanting to exit gangs.

You can see the Plan in full at and the evidence base underpinning it here – https://www.london.gov.uk/mopac-publications/consultation-police-and-crime-plan-2021-25 .

You can also submit your feedback on the draft plan via email (consultation@mopac.london.gov.uk) or by post to MOPAC, 169 Union Street, London SE1 0LL.

The consultation is now open and will run until 21st January 2022.

What steps should you take if you find a knife or bladed weapon in a public place?

One question, members of our team are occasionally asked during our engagement sessions in the community are what practical steps people should take if they find a knife in a public place and are worried that it may be used to harm someone.

If you find a knife which you think has been hidden intentionally for possible use in the future, call the police on 101 as soon as you can. Leave the knife in place. Follow the police’s advice. They may ask you to safely remove the knife and to store it in a clean plastic bag in a secure location until it can be collected or taken to your local police station.

If you are worried that the knife may be linked to a criminal offence locally – it may appear to have traces of blood on it for example – it is critical that you don’t touch the knife and that you leave it where it is.  Call the police on 999 immediately and stay in the area where you found the knife until the police arrive at the scene, unless you feel unsafe doing that.  If the weather is poor, you might be advised to cover the knife to preserve any evidence for the police investigation.

If you find an unwanted kitchen knife in a place where there is no suggestion that it may be  linked to a crime (for example, on the floor near a bin store), there may be no need for police involvement at all and the knife can be recycled responsibly by handing it to waste collection teams or safely disposed of in a recycling centre/bin.

Remember, in England, it is illegal to carry a knife in public without good reason, unless it is a knife with a folding blade that is three inches long or less or to use any knife in a threatening way, even if it is a legal one. For more information on the law on carrying knives, see https://www.gov.uk/buying-carrying-knives.