A teenage murder suspect was among almost 200 people arrested as Scotland Yard took advantage of the lockdown to declare war on knife, gun and drug crime.
The Met drafted dozens of officers into a new Violence Suppression Unit (VSU) working in Westminster, Kensington and Chelsea, Hammersmith & Fulham and the Royal Parks.
A 17-year-old suspected of the brutal killing of musician William Algar, 53, in Barnes was arrested last month. The accomplished jazz trumpeter, also known as Blaise, was found stabbed and dismembered at his home in Nowell Road on January 3. Police said the teenager had been arrested on suspicion of murder and released under investigation.
Since the start of the Covid-19 crisis, knife crime among under-25s has fallen by 21 per cent, with 357 fewer youngsters stabbed in London compared with the previous year.
Westminster saw a 78 per cent reduction in robberies, from 242 in June 2019 to just 53 last month.
Known criminals have been visited at home during lockdown and urged to change their ways. If the offer is snubbed, police try to steer their siblings away from crime. The VSU based at Belgravia police station has made 186 arrests since the start of May, leading to 110 charges. Two people were arrested on suspicion of murder, one following a random stop in the street.
A leading gang member was arrested and officers shut down a cannabis factory last week. Twenty-five suspects have been arrested for possessing weapons including 10 knives.
Chief Superintendent Helen Harper, the Met’s central west commander, said: “The VSU officers know the really high-harm, high-risk individuals. If they see them, they’ll recognise them.”
