Home Secretary Sajid Javid pledges more police on our streets to stop knife crime as he bids to be the next PM
MORE police on the beat means less crime on our streets. Not exactly rocket science, is it?
But what’s obvious to Sun readers in towns and cities across the country is not quite as clear cut in the corridors of Westminster and Whitehall — and it’s time for that to change.
The increase in sickening violence like knife crime has rightly caused national alarm. Just like you, my heart breaks when I see reports of yet another young life cut short.
I’ve sat with countless bereaved families who have lost loved ones to knife crime, often just teenagers no older then my own kids.
We can’t go on like this. And that’s why, if I become Prime Minister, I’ll make the fight against crime a central priority. But to win that fight we need bobbies on the beat, with the legal power and political support they need to make a difference.
Long before I became Home Secretary I understood the vital role police played thanks to my brother Bas, a Chief Superintendent in the West Midlands.
I’ve heard about the terrible situations he and his colleagues have found themselves in.
And when we get together it never takes him long to tell me how much harder his job has got — and how much of the blame for that lies at the door of well-meaning but out-of-touch politicians.
From the day I became Home Secretary, I’ve done everything I can to turn that around. I’ve changed the law to make it easier for police to confiscate weapons like so-called “death stars” and “zombie knives”.
I’ve introduced knife-crime asbos to protect vulnerable kids and direct them on to better paths.
And I’ve given police more powers to confiscate acid and corrosive substances before they can be used as weapons.
I’ve also made it easier for the police to increase their use of stop and search.
I'll always back officers' judgment on stop and search
Sajid Javid
I know this is not popular with everyone. Some people fear it will lead to greater tensions between the police and youngsters from black and ethnic minority backgrounds.
While I understand this, it pales into insignificance next to the horrific fact that you are four times more likely to die from serious violence if you are black than if you are white.
In London alone, a 30 per cent increase in stop and search saw a 15 per cent drop in knife wounds in youngsters.
Yes, it has been abused in the past. But, unlike some politicians, I trust officers to exercise their judgment and I will always back them in their use of intelligence-led stop and search.
The changes I’ve secured as Home Secretary were hard fought and will make a real difference.
But when you get out of the office and ask police officers what they want most from the Government the answer is always the same: more colleagues.
The increase in sickening violence like knife crime has rightly caused national alarm
Sajid Javid
As Home Secretary I’ve been making this case for the past year.
As Prime Minister, I’d put the money in to make it happen.
And I’d continue work to peel back layers of bureaucracy that have crept up over decades so police can concentrate on policing, not paperwork.
That means 20,000 more coppers. Not sat behind desks, but pounding the pavements.
It’s what the police want, it’s what the public wants, and it’s what I will deliver.
I want to see a return to bobbies on the beat in every corner of the country. In cities, towns, villages and the countryside, I want the public to feel the confidence that comes from seeing officers in their communities.
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And I want to end the culture of impunity criminals increasingly feel as a result of lack of police presence.
As Prime Minister, I want to put opportunity at the heart of everything I do.
But we can only give people the chance to get on if we give them the safety and security that they deserve.
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