Knife crime: Greater Manchester Police get stop and search powers

Mr Burnham said the move was "on the foundation of much stronger, more proactive community policing"

Greater Manchester Police have been granted stop and search powers following a string of fatal stabbings.

The area's mayor Andy Burnham has given the force the powers in designated areas, which he said was a "raising of the game" in terms of enforcement.

He said they would "be used carefully" and not in a discriminatory way.

Mr Burnham said he was also taking a "community approach" and putting money "into youth activities and positive things for young people to do".

Since the start of 2022, the region has seen a number of people killed in knife attacks, including 18-year-old Abdikarim Abdalla Ahmed, who died in March after being stabbed near Bury Market, 20-year-old Dylan Keelan, who was stabbed to death in Dukinfield in February, and 16-year-old Kennie Carter, who was attacked in Stretford in January.

Mr Burnham told the Local Democracy Reporting Service that the powers would "be used carefully", adding: "There are issues that arise with regards to stop and search, but if more weapons are being carried, it follows that more will need to be done to apprehend those weapons".

'Heartbreaking'

He said the force's new chief constable, who was appointed in March 2021, had brought with him "a very different approach to policing in Greater Manchester than we've seen in recent years" and the move was "on the foundation of much stronger, more proactive community policing".

"On the enforcement side, there is a raising of the game, definitely," he said.

"But on the diversion side, we're taking that community approach, putting more money into youth activities and positive things for young people to do.

"We have a good approach, but we're seeing how we can take that further."

He added that it was "heartbreaking" to hear from parents who had lost children to knife crime and "the suddenness of their loss is something no parent would ever want to have to contend with".

Mr Burnham said there was a need to train young people in "de-escalation"

Mr Burnham made his comments after meeting with faith leaders, martial arts club representatives, youth workers, police officers and community members from across Greater Manchester.

He said he "wanted to ensure that we were hearing from all communities and we were doing everything that we could possibly be doing to understand what's going on and take more steps to reduce, particularly youth violence and knife crime, but also violence overall".

"We have to warn young people about the dangers and also train them in de-escalation, so they are able to deal with those situations as they arise," he added.

"It's a new world out there and we have to equip our young people with the skills they're going to need to deal with it."