Police in bid to cut knife crime

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Speaking at Scotland Yard, Assistant Commissioner Tim Godwin said the first team of 15 officers would be deployed to a London borough, where officers would use powers under Section 60 of the Public Order Act to stop individuals suspected of carrying weapons.

The "fairly in your face" policing of the target areas would be intelligence-led, but with the support of the local community, Mr Godwin said.

Mr Godwin said the carrying of weapons had contributed to the murder rate for young people and extra measures needed to be taken.

The stop and search teams will target areas where intelligence suggests youths are more likely to be carrying weapons.

But under Section 60, officers will not need to operate under the presumption of reasonable suspicion.

After the first team is deployed to a key area on Tuesday night, another five to ten teams will take to the capital over the next week to 10 days.

The teams will use wands and knife arches to carry out their searches.

Mr Godwin said: "We really, really, really have to do something about carrying weapons on the streets of London, that results in when you have a barney (with someone) you end up stabbing them instead of hitting them," he said.

He added: "Our objective is not about harassing anybody. It's about making everybody as safe as we can in London and if people walk around with knives it dramatically reduces your safety because you could end up with it stuck in you."