Home Secretary to announce crackdown on street crime to take back town centres from thugs and thieves
23 September 2024, 23:12 | Updated: 23 September 2024, 23:15
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper is set to announce a crackdown on crime as part of the government's "mission" for safer streets.
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Rising street crime is "corroding the fabric of our communities", Ms Cooper will warn on Tuesday.
She will announce plans for the government to introduce new powers to respond to antisocial behaviour, shoplifting and off-road bikes, with more neighbourhood police expected in communities too.
Legislation will also be brought forward next year to introduce "respect orders", which are designed to ban persistent antisocial offenders from town centres, including for issues linked to public drinking and drug use.
Ms Cooper will announce plans for an additional 13,000 police officers and PCSOs along with guaranteed local patrols.
A new standalone offence of assaulting a shopworker will be created too.
The announcement comes on the day a ban on owning zombie-style knives and machetes comes into force.
It follows a four-week amnesty scheme where owners were encouraged to hand the weapons in to police, local authorities or knife crime charities.
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Speaking at the Labour party conference in Liverpool on Tuesday, Ms Cooper will say: "We know that security is the bedrock on which communities can come together, and on which the opportunities Labour has always fought for are built.
"You don't get social justice if you don't have justice.
"Respect is the very foundation of our democracy.
"Those Labour values are at the heart of all we do.
"And they are at the heart of our mission for safer streets too.
"Starting in towns and cities across the country where rising street crime has driven people from our high streets, corroding the fabric of our communities.
"This Labour Government will bring in new powers on antisocial behaviour, shoplifting and off-road bikes and put neighbourhood police back on the beat.
"And yes, after years of Co-op and Usdaw campaigning, this Labour Government will introduce a new law on assaults on shopworkers, because everyone has the right to work in freedom from fear."
It comes after a 15-year-old boy was killed with a "zombie-style" knife just two days before the ban on the weapons was due to come into force.
The Met was called to reports of a disturbance on Eglinton Road, Woolwich, at around 6.30pm on Sunday, with the force arriving to find the schoolboy bleeding out in the street.
The teenage victim, who is yet to be identified, was found with a serious stab wound to his leg.
Witnesses who attempted to save the teenager have since recounted his final words, with the boy pleading: "I'm 15, don't let me die" shortly before succumbing to his injuries.
In an update on Monday afternoon, Detective Chief Superintendent Trevor Leary confirmed a murder investigation is "now underway".
He said that "extra-police are working in the area" but admitted "no arrests have been made" in connection with the case.
