243 people arrested in knife crime crackdown

The Met Police have arrested 243 people and seized 159 knives in a knife crime crackdown.

As part of a two-week crackdown, officers used a data-led approach to identify the highest priority suspects. Officers and analysts brought together information and intelligence held on a number of Met systems to identify those offenders who posed the highest risk of harm to Londoners. This was responsible for 88 of the 243 arrests.

Once identified, high-harm offenders were targeted either in relation to their suspected role into previous incidents or as part of proactive interventions to find and seize dangerous knives that might otherwise have been used to commit serious violence.

The other arrests were the result of extensive proactivity across London led by local policing team. Officers targeted known gang members, deployed in uniform and plainclothes in areas known for violent crime, carried out weapon sweeps and targeted those selling the knives both in person and online.

Officers also used stop and search tactics, with 77 stops leading to knives being recovered and arrests being made.

Knife test purchase operations were carried out at 72 shops to identify those involved in the sale of illegal knives, or the sale of knives to people under 18.

Commander James Conway, the Met’s frontline policing lead, said: “Tackling knife crime remains one of our top priorities and through interventions like Operation Sceptre, we’re making real progress.

“By being proactive and directing our resources at those who pose the greatest risk, we have driven knife-enabled crime down by 17 per cent in a year. We’re not complacent and are determined to reduce it even further.

“243 arrests in two weeks is a significant achievement. It's a 67 per cent increase compared to the last time Op Sceptre ran in November 2025.

“That progress can be credited in part to the use of technology to bring intelligence and information together to allow us to intervene more precisely, but also to changes we’ve made to how we deploy proactive policing teams in their local areas where they can have a greater impact on the crimes blighting communities."