Peter Bleksley has called for a fresh demand on stop and search, following the fatal stabbing of a 15-year-old girl in Croydon.
Speaking on GB News Breakfast, the former Metropolitan Police Detective shared his thoughts on the incident, which resulted in the arrest of a 17-year-old boy.
Breakfast host Isabel Webster asked: “Does the law need tightening in all of this? Is there more that the police can do in policing this particular area?”
Bleksley replied: “The law was tightened a couple of years ago, and only a couple of weeks ago the Government have announced further measures that are going to be implemented through parliament with regards to the sale of long bladed knives, often called zombie knives, machetes and the like.
“Well, that may help a bit. But you can go onto the internet, go to the dark web, and sadly buy almost anything you want these days. So despite these legislative changes and laws being passed, it is not translating to a reduction in the amount of knives on the street, and it's not equating to a reduction in the bloodshed.
“There is a tide of teenage blood flowing through the streets of London and some of our other capital cities. We need robust action from law enforcement to try and reduce this.”
Bleksley continued: “Children, adults, teenagers, people are dying in numbers. That is just off the Richter scale, and something robust has to be done by the police. I don't want our police doing social work. I don't want our police doing what they so often call community engagement.
“There's two communities they need to engage with, number one, victims of crime, and number two, perpetrators of crime. Let's get that territorial support group down at Croydon today. Let's get them on the streets. Let's get them when there is cause, when there is justification, stopping and searching people, and let's get them retrieving rights and arresting people.”
Watch the interview in full above.
Tune in to Breakfast with Eamonn and Isabel, Monday to Thursday from 6am, only on GB News.
