UK Police Official Says Courts, Prisons Should Jointly Tackle Knife Crime Surge

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Assistant Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) Martin Hewitt said Tuesday that the problem of knife crime prevention in the UK capital should be tackled jointly by courts and prison authorities.

"Our officers are putting an enormous amount of effort into operational activity to try to deal with this problem and that needs to be followed through in the courts… When people go to prison there should be a positive element in terms of rehabilitating them… Collectively, we need to look at how we can allow those people to come out with a better chance," Hewitt said in an interview with the Sky News broadcaster.

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The police official noted that more efforts should be put to provide education and job opportunities to ensure rehabilitation and socializing after prison, "otherwise it can become just a cycle."

The Office for National Statistics reported that the year 2017 has seen a major surge in knife crimes in London, with more than 12,000 blade offences occurred.

The Metropolitan Police spokesperson revealed that 77 people died from knife crime in the UK capital in 2017. Forty of those stabbed to death were under the age of 25, according to London Mayor Sadiq Khan's office.

Such Sadiq Khan announced in December that additional funding would be allocated on the Knife Crime Strategy that was unveiled in June.