According to the latest recorded crime figures in England and Wales, there has been a steep rise in violence. Knife offences are up by 21 per cent in the year to September 2017; in London alone the increase is 30.2 per cent — that’s 13,715 incidents.
How should police deal with this disturbing trend? One view is that they need to target likely offenders, especially through an increase in the use of stop and search.

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