MPA welcomes boost to fight gun crime

13/02
11 February 2002

The announcement by the Metropolitan Police today that it is to boost its fight against gun crime with an additional 50 officers has been welcomed by the Metropolitan Police Authority.

Toby Harris, MPA Chair, said:

"Given the level of public concern over violent incidents on our streets and in particular the worrying increase in gun crime, I will be discussing with the Commissioner tomorrow how best we can oversee and monitor the police response to this menace.

"This new initiative will go some way to deter and detect gun crimes, reassure the public and send a clear signal to the gunmen that their reprehensible behaviour is totally unacceptable and will not be tolerated."

Notes to editors

The Met announced that 30 of the 50 redeployed officers will be seconded to Operation Trident, which deals specifically with black on black shootings. The other 20 will work within the Shootings Team of the Serious and Organised Crime Group, which deals with all other non Trident shootings.

In London between 1 January and 31 December 2001 there were 21 Trident-related murders and 135 incidents of non-fatal shootings. This year there have been two murders and more than 16 non-fatal shootings. The team made more than 500 arrests last year, recovering substantial amounts of guns and drugs. The Shootings team of the Serious and Organised Crime Group arrested more than 56 people since it was formed in April 2001, and recovered more than 59 firearms with 933 rounds of ammunition.

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