STEM THE WOUNDS
Theresa May launches blitz on knife crime ‘disease’ with teachers ordered to report stab wounds
COPS, doctors and teachers will soon have a legal duty to spot warning signs of potential knife offenders.
Once identified, the suspects will be referred to “violence reduction units”.
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The move, to be unveiled today, is the latest attempt to stem the growing knives crisis on Britain’s streets.
It comes as a manhunt was last night underway after four people were randomly stabbed in the back during a 14-hour window.
All of the victims were on their own when they were ambushed from behind without warning in a quarter-mile radius in Edmonton, North London.
Met Police chief Cressida Dick told MPs that knife crime is at the “highest and most worrying” level in forty years.
'DUTY TO RAISE CONCERNS'
Hospital casualty staff and GPs will be under a so-called “public health duty” to flag up patients with blade wounds and other suspicious injuries.
And teachers will be obliged to report truancy and serious misbehaviour as part of a multi-agency effort.
The measures are similar to those which will be used to spot would-be jihadists.
A consultation will assess the extent to which workers on the front line will be held to account for failing to prevent a young person getting involved in violence, a Home Office spokesman said.
Theresa May and Sajid Javid will today team up to launch a new multi-agency crackdown to finally tackle the bloodshed on Britain’s streets.
And under the code, doctors will be forced to report youngsters presenting at Accident & Emergency with a suspicious injury — so it can be linked to “worrying behaviour” at schools or issues at home.
A source said: “It won’t be enough for kids to come in and say they’ve hurt themselves in the kitchen — and all the information will go into a central pot.”
In a joint article for the , Mr Javid and Mrs May said that the loss of lives is horrific, senseless and destructive.
The wrote: "This cannot be allowed to continue.
"We must and will use every tool and tactic at our disposal to deter young people from carrying knives.
"We must treat the threat which knives pose to our society like a disease."
BLITZ ON KNIFE CRIME
As The Sun exclusively revealed on Saturday, the programme mirrors the Home Office “Prevent” campaign drawn up to stop youngsters being sucked into extremism.
The PM and half of her Cabinet will chair a series of meetings today and this week as part of a new push to get to grips with the crisis.
Mrs May will also chair a summit alongside experts such as Children’s Commissioner Anne Longfield, Met chief Cressida Dick and London Mayor Sadiq Khan. And she will meet privately with the families of victims of knife crime.
Jodie Chesney, 17, was one of many recent innocent victims after being stabbed to death in Romford, East London.
In a statement last night, Mrs May said: “To protect young people from the tragic violence we have seen on our streets, we need to work across society to intervene early and stop them from being drawn into crime.
“Strong law enforcement plays an important role and the police will continue to have our support on the front line.
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“But we all need to look at what we can do in our communities, and in every part of the system to safeguard young people.”
The new public health duty coincides with a Stop and Search blitz in seven regions of the UK.
Home Secretary Mr Javid said: “I’m committed to ending this scourge and will use all the tools at my disposal to do so.”
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Sajid Javid gives police new stop-and-search powers in bid to curb knife crime
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