Knife Pole Call

A LEIGH councillor has called on all stations across the city to install knife and weapon detecting equipment.

 Owen Cartey, councillor for West Leigh Ward, has said that knife poles and arches should be used to crackdown on people travelling to Southend intent on committing violent crime.

This comes after clashes involving machetes erupted on the seafront and in the High Street in late July.

The previous MP for Southend West and Leigh, Anna Firth, successfully campaigned for Essex Police to purchase a number of knife poles, which have been deployed at local stations over the past year.

 She commented: “Proactive policing is always going to be cheaper and more effective both in the short and long-term.”

Ms Firth, who lost her seat as the Conservative MP for the area at the last general election, also previously lobbied the government to close a loophole in the law surround so-called ‘zombie knives’.

 For Coun Cartey, one of the benefits of getting more poles would include reassuring the largely “nice and law-abiding” residents of Leigh and Southend.

 He said: “One way we can reassure residents is by increasing the number of knife poles outside key stations like Leigh, Chalkwell and Southend central and pairing them with knife bins.

 “It’s better for local families that we take strong action now to prove that Southend is organised and ready for any malicious activity, to deter bad people from outside the city in future.”

 He added: “When there is a big issue at the seafront or anywhere something happens, it is about people coming from outside.

 “Most people in Leigh and Southend are nice and law-abiding. The big issue is whether it is a mixture of drunk teens bringing weapons, having a bad time or if it is malicious right-wing thugs, people are taking advantage.

 “We should be more proactive and less reactive and I think we should focus on the station if we know they are travelling in from London.”

 Essex Police emphasised that their Op Grip visible patrols, knife arches and OpenGate systems are being deployed regularly across Southend.

 A spokesman said: “We know the times at which those incidents of violence are likely to take place and the patrols are focused in those times in order to be most effective.”

Picture: Former MP Ann Firth with the two knife poles.

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