Can stop and search prevent knife crime?

[Trevortt]

The Metropolitan Police has been criticised for its stop and search policy in a bid to tackle knife crime. Is stop and search the right tool to prevent knife crime?

Laura Richards, the former head of the Met's homicide prevention unit, told the BBC stop and search tactics could make gangs stronger and the problem worse.

Ms Richards wants offenders who ran the risk of escalating violent behaviour to be targeted, after a 4 years study by the Homicide Prevention Unit found that 88% of knife killers were known to police.

The Met has defended its use of stop and search, stating that it was only one part of a wider strategy and that it had taken 1,700 knives off the streets since May this year.

Is stop and search too blunt a tool to reduce knife crime? Does it alienate and marginalise young men? Have you been stopped and searched? Is offender profiling the best way to prevent knife and violent crimes?