Give police the confidence to use stop and search to cut knife crime, a close ally of Boris Johnson and former deputy mayor for policing has said.
Stephen Greenhalgh said senior politicians must give police "political cover" to use intelligence-led stop and search to curb the number of knives on Britain's streets, amid claims officers are too scared to use the powers.
A former senior officer told The Sunday Telegraph that young officers "are afraid of using their stop and search powers for fear of getting it wrong", as data shows a dramatic drop in stops.
It follows a political row over stop and search which blew up in a recent Cabinet meeting between the Prime Minister and former Mayor of London...