Theresa May told guests at the summit 'we cannot arrest ourselves' out of the stabbing epidemic (Image: GETTY)
The Prime Minister hinted that teachers, nurses and police officers could soon have a “legal duty” to “spot young people at risk” of committing a violent crime. Mrs May and Sajid Javid are discussing the plans with guests at today’s meeting which include Met Police Commissioner Cressida Dick and Baroness Newlove, the Victims’ Commissioner for England and Wales and Mayor of London Sadiq Khan. Opening the summit, Mrs May told guests “we cannot simply arrest ourselves” out of the growing problem and insisted her Government was treating the issue as a “priority”.
She said: “In the recent months we know we have seen an appalling number of young lives cut short or devastated by serious violent crimes, including of course a number of horrifying incidents that took place just over this weekend.
“As we look at what's happened, of course what we also see is that in many cases the perpetrators of these crimes are as young as their victims and this is something that has to be something of deep concern to us all.”
The gathering comes a day after Mr Javid announced plans to roll out a pilot scheme of increased stop-and-search powers for police officers in seven areas including London, Merseyside, Greater Manchester, South Yorkshire and West Yorkshire.
This marked a U-turn of Mrs May’s policy as Home Secretary when in 2014 she vowed to curb the controversial practice.
Four people were stabbed over the weekend in Edmonton, North London (Image: GETTY)
Four people were knifed in the back in a 14-hour stabbing
