Southampton police launch new operation to fight youth crime

But that is exactly what happened when I sat down with Marcus Kennedy at the police station in Hightown Fire Station to talk about the latest phase of the Southampton team's plan to stamp out youth violence.

The huge blade was discovered by a member of the public on Thursday morning in Thornhill, who called it into police and officers went to collect it.

Manchete seized by police after member of the public found in in Thornhill (Image: Newsquest)

"I promise you this wasn't planned," Marcus quipped as he took the blade out of the plastic tube it was being stored in.

It demonstrated the terrifying range of weapons officers are seizing on a regular basis as part of their efforts to reduce knife crime - which is a problem among young people.

READ MORE: Here's how Hampshire Police deal with youth knife crime

It was jaw-dropping to see such a vicious weapon, imagining it in the hands of a teenager and the tragedy that could happen. There is no good reason why anyone would need to walk around a neighbourhood with something like that in their hands.

I asked Marcus if he thought members of the public would have told them about it before their recent drive to get rid of knives in Southampton.

"I don't think we would get something like this handed into us a few months ago, this is a testament to Meero", he said.

The Meero he referred to was Operation Meero, launched in June this year in response to youth violence, including with knives, and focused around Thornhill.

After a string of serious incidents involving knives, the final straw came on June 19, when a 60-year-old man was stabbed in the neck and torso in Burgoyne Road, near a school, in an attack which shocked the community.

As a result, six teens were arrested on suspicion of attempted murder.

As a reporter covering the aftermath of these incidents, residents have told me repeatedly that the lack of "coppers" on the ground on a daily basis is at the heart of the issue.

Seeing officers regularly patrolling their streets made them not only feel safe, but also feel safe talking to police.

Police patrolling roads of Thornhill (Image: Newsquest)

Out on patrol with Marcus and another officer, I saw this first-hand.

They went into Nisa Local in Warburton Road - the same road where 64-year-old Mark Noke was stabbed to death in his flat in February this year.

It is a neighbourhood feeling the strain of crime; and it is here where the presence of an officer can make all the difference.

The pair were keen to get people's honest opinions of how the force was doing - and it seems that these extra boots on the ground from Operation Meero was helping turn the tide of public perception.

Everyone agreed there had been a heightened police presence in the area; no doubt Ch Isp Kennedy was pleased to hear that.

People going into the shop would greet him and the fellow officers walking with us, signs of a relationship slowly being strengthened between police and the community.

'We live and breathe what the community tells us'

Another key feature of Operation Meero, aside from community outreach, was taking action against those youths carrying knives.

Ch Insp Kennedy said: “The key thing that Meero has done is listing all the juveniles, all the individuals in the east of the city that we have information that are carrying knives.

“From there we target those individuals through stop and search, and anybody who is linked to knife carrying we have really been quite aggressive to make sure they are arrested for any offences.

“We have been very unapologetic in arresting quite a few people who we think are linked to knife crime in the Thornhill area.”

The police have also worked with a range of partners - which include local schools, Southampton City Council, its Youth Justice Service and Saints Foundation - to pull young people off the path of crime and change their lives for good.

For Ch Insp Kennedy, that machete he showed me was not just symbolic of the problem, but also the solution; a sign of the community's growing trust.

He said: "If the community don’t talk to us then we can’t do our job, we live and breathe on what the community tell us."

Op Meero statistics

Between July 31 and August 29, officers carried out 208 dedicated patrols, 178 of which were on foot.

Since the launch of the operation, the force has arrested 14 people, nine of whom were related to stabbings across three separate incidents.

Officers have carried out 34 stop and searches and collected more than 60 intelligence logs, which help the police build up an image of crime in the area.