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Camden News - by CHARLOTTE CHAMBERS
Published: 06 November 2008

The knife found in Fitzrovia

Police tell man to ‘bag up’ found knife

POLICE advised a man who found an eight-inch knife in a flowerpot outside his Fitzrovia home to bag it up and bring it in because they were “too busy” to collect it.
The horticulturist, who didn’t want to be identified, said he called 999 three times on Saturday asking them to pick up the dangerous weapon, but after waiting six hours he ended up taking it to Holborn station.
He criticised the police for giving him conflicting advice each time he called and appearing not to have a clear policy on dealing with knives – despite being top of the political and media agendas.
“Surely the police have some standard guideline they adhere to on knives – so why isn’t it being met?” the 40-year-old said. “With the recent soar in knife crimes in the capital, you would have thought the police would be quick off the mark if a knife was to be found in a residential area. Unfortunately, it is not the case.”
Describing the police approach as “lackadaisical” he called for a review into their policy on knives and better training for call centre staff.
He was also concerned that the police do not have a direct line to the community police support officers, who are funded by the council.
Chief Inspector Sean Wilson, from Camden Police’s Operations Unit said: “We treat all allegations of knife crime seriously and investigate these allegations where we can. This [complaint] raises a number of issues which need exploring further.”

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