BRITAIN:Hundreds of airport-style metal detectors could soon be installed at schools in England and Wales as part of a government clampdown on teenage knife crime.
Home Secretary Jacqui Smyth yesterday confirmed the proposal as a key element in a new violent crime action plan to be announced next month.
Head teachers will have the final power of decision about security arrangements in individual schools, although they and police are reportedly behind the move, spurred by rising concern following a recent spate of attacks.
One girl aged 13 was stabbed in the chest and thigh after finishing lessons at her school last week. And The Irish Timeshas learned of the recent exclusion of an eight-year-old for possession of a knife at his primary school in south-west London.
Ms Smyth stressed that carrying a knife for protection made young people "more likely to be a victim", following her admission to a Sunday newspaper that she would feel unsafe walking the London streets late at night - whether in deprived areas such as Hackney or in affluent Chelsea.
That admission coincided with a report that violent crime perpetrated by children and teenagers has gone up by a third in just three years, with the number of under-18s convicted or cautioned over violent crimes rising by 37 per cent.
It also came ahead of a report by the right-of-centre Policy Exchange think tank questioning whether the government's increases in police numbers and spending have been reflected in improved results on the ground.
In a week which will see a protest march by up to 20,000 officers over the government's proposed pay deal, Sir Ronnie Flanagan's report on police reform, "Footing the Bill: Reforming the police service" will investigate the challenges faced by the police in containing costs and balancing protective services, counter-terrorism measures and neighbourhood policing.
Although police spending has increased by a fifth since the election of the Labour government in 1997 the report will say the impact on crime has been unimpressive, with recent British Crime Survey statistics suggesting that for every 100 crimes there are only three convictions.
Gavin Lockhart, the head of Policy Exchange's crime and justice unit says: "Since 1997, £70 billion has been spent on the police and there has been a remarkable increase in police numbers.
"Although the increase in funding was accompanied by a barrage of targets and commitments, it is not clear what has been achieved for such a huge financial outlay."
The report's authors, Barry Loveday of Portsmouth University and Jonathan McClory of Policy Exchange, propose ways of making police services more effective, even with declining funding from central government.
These include a commitment to "workforce modernisation", including "steps to remove potential and real cultural opposition to reform" - such as the opposition of the Police Federation to police community support officers.
The authors also call for greater locally driven, long-term collaboration between forces, increased freedom to raise funds locally and more private provision of policing services.
Mr Lockhart admits some of the proposals - such as reform of the office of constable, lifting the cap on council tax increases, the introduction of transferable powers of arrest, and reducing the number of police ranks - would be controversial.
But he argues: "The police are resting on foundations established in the 19th century. The time has come for fundamental reform to create a service that is fit for purpose."
Ms Smith told the BBC's Andrew Marr that the efficiency of metal detectors in combating knife crime outweighed any concerns regarding the privacy of pupils.
Meanwhile John Dunford, general secretary of the Secondary Heads Association, stressed to the Observerthat only "a very small number" of schools overall are likely to be affected.