Police given more powers to search high-risk offenders for weapons
Police in the West Midlands will be given new stop and search powers from today (19/04) to tackle knife crime and serious violence.
The powers will give the police force a court order to change the behaviour of known knife and weapon carriers.
The court will be able to make a Serious Violence Reduction Order (SVRO) when an adult (aged 18 or over) is convicted of an offence involving a bladed article or offensive weapon.
These orders will help to tackle prolific, high-risk offenders, by making it easier for police to search them for weapons.
West Midlands Police is one of four forces in the country trialling these new powers over a two year period- including Merseyside, Thames Valley and Sussex- before a decision is made on a national roll out.
The force also says SVROs will also help protect first time offenders from being drawn into further exploitation by criminal gangs, by acting as a deterrent to any further weapons carrying.
Whilst SVROs may only be applied for in pilot force areas, officers across England and Wales will have the power to stop and search those with an SVRO.
This will allow the police the flexibility to tackle cross border criminality and ensure that offenders are not able to evade enforcement simply by leaving the pilot force area.
WMP lead for SVROs Inspector James Tandy said: “We are pleased to be one of only four police forces trialling these additional powers, anything that helps us tackle this issue and keep the pressure on those who are involved in the most serious violent crime is very welcome.
"Ultimately, we will use any tool available to us to keep our communities safe, so any extra measures that we can use are a huge help.
"It gives us a more proactive approach for repeat offenders and will help us protect those most vulnerable from being drawn into further exploitation by criminal gangs.
"This pilot coincides with a range of activity already taking place to tackle knife crime and serious violence across the West Midlands together with partnership work with the Violence Reduction Unit.
Assistant Chief Constable Claire Bell added: “Too many people have died or been seriously injured in our areas as a result of knife crime.
"We have done an incredible amount of work across our communities to try to reduce offending and ultimately save lives.
"We are confident that these new powers will help deter offenders, help change behaviour and provide reassurance to communities that action is being taken.