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01
Aug
Police enhance stop and search powers in Harrogate and Knaresborough
Police have enhanced their stop and search powers in a 24-hour blitz on knife crime in Harrogate and Knaresborough.
It comes after a boy was slashed with a knife on Nidderdale Greenway last week.
North Yorkshire Police said last night it had enacted section 60 powers under the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act for a 24-hour period.
It means officers can stop and search someone without reasonable grounds of suspicion.
Section 60 powers can only be authorised when a senior police officer thinks serious violence may take place or has taken place and the searches will help to find the weapon.
The same legislation was also implemented in Southport last night following Tuesday night’s violence that followed the stabbing to death of three girls.
In a statement last night, North Yorkshire Police said there would be more covert policing and high-visibility patrols during the 24 hours in which the section 60 powers are active.
The statement also said for the first time that last week’s incident on the greenway was a knife attack that led to a 17-year-old boy being taken to hospital with lacerations.
Four youths, aged 15 to 17, were arrested and later released on bail as investigations continue.
Detective chief inspector Matthew Wilkinson said:
This is part of our response to ensure Harrogate residents feel safe, and I hope our enhanced police presence will do exactly that.
Because Harrogate is generally a very safe area, anyone who’s up to no good tends to stand out. So during this intensification period we will be proactively looking for these people, and we will be using our enhanced stop and search powers as well as a number of other covert policing tactics.
Anyone carrying weapons, drugs or anything else illegal will be dealt with to the full extent of the law. We intend to use these powers to make an impact.
This is a robust approach, but we’re making no apologies for that – we want to keep North Yorkshire safe, and we know we have the backing of residents who don’t want weapons or drugs in their communities. We want North Yorkshire to be a no-go area for anyone carrying weapons or dealing in drugs.
Chief Insp Wilkinson said detectives had been carrying out extensive enquiries as part of the investigation into the greenway incident, and urged anyone with information to contact North Yorkshire Police on 101 and select option 1, quoting reference 12240132370.
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