Officers from the Mets Territorial Support Unit (TSG) have seized a sawn-off shotgun as well as a knife during a stop and search in Hackney (East London).
In a tweet, @MetTaskforce said:
“More reason for stop and search to continue, a sawn-off shotgun and a knife taken off the streets along with their owners.
“How can one not see stop and search as a good thing?”
Image credit: @MetTaskforce | Twitter
In the image of the shotgun that was shared in the tweet, several cartridges can also be seen.
The Met has stepped up its use of stop and search following a spike in knife and violent crime.
Over the past few months, hundreds of knives and other weapons have been seized as a result of this proactive measure.
The recent increase in knife crime has been primarily attributed to the cuts which police forces up-and-down the country had to endure during recent austerity measures.
The cuts meant that many officers of the front line have been able to spend less time proactively patrolling on the streets owing to increased workloads.
Image credit: @MetTaskforce | Twitter
Many successful proactive units such as the Robbery Task Force were disbanded during the cutbacks, only to be reintroduced again once knife crime started to increase.
Former Prime Minister Theresa May played down the use of stop and search without seeming to have any real understanding as to why and when frontline officers use stop and search.
Stop and search is seen as a vital tool in the fight against violent and knife-enabled crime and its use has been backed by the current Home Secretary Priti Patel.
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The shot gun looks like a Beretta which is a great gun, shame to saw the barrels off as it’s ruined it and it looks like it hasn’t been looked after.
Stop and search is fine, all it needs now is for the courts to award appropriate sentences for those caught with weapons. What happened to Tony Blair’s, “anyone caught with a knife will get an automatic 5 year sentence”?
Mora knife, a favourite amongst the outdoors types/Scout leaders, probably stolen with the shotgun?