On Friday 22nd March, Home Secretary James Cleverly visited Bury to hear about the knife crime challenges facing Bury. He was joined by Bury North MP James Daly and Chief Superintendent Chris Hill.
Home Secretary and MP for Braintree, James Cleverly stated:
I’m very conscious that when you’re a government minister, it’s really easy to get stuck in Westminster and I’m absolutely determined to get out and about to make sure that I send the message that the government is for the whole of the UK not just for the South East.
I want to make sure we are learning lessons about frontline policing and proactive policing and hear from the coal face from police officers who are trying to tackle knife crime, which I know is a very-high profile issue at the moment, but this plan was in place before the recent incidents.
What I want to do, and what I am doing, is making sure I provide the funding to out more frontline police officers on the beat.
We want to give chief constables the authority to task those officers to do what local communities want them to do and to make sure criminals feel the pressure from those extra police officers and the good people feel the reassurance and that’s what we’re looking to achieve.
James Daly, Bury North MP said:
It was great to have the Home Secretary with us here in Bury and to speak to him about some of the issues we face.”
Knife crime is a serious issue and there is no place for it here in Bury, the number of people carrying knives, particularly young people, is really concerning. Residents deserve to feel safe in their communities.
The action being taken by the government and local police will make a difference and the Home Secretary’s plans to increase police presence and powers will ensure that criminals will feel the pressure and members of local communities are reassured.
Every day through police operations, metal detectors and increased stop and search, knives are being taken off our streets.
