The dad of a 22-year-old stabbed to death in south London has called for an “essential” police tactic to tackle knife crime
The father of a young man who was stabbed to death said stop and search was “essential” to reduce knife crime. Cliff Marcus’ son Leo Marcus, 22, was stabbed to death in a botched mugging attempt in Woolwich, south London, in 2019.
Mr Marcus said he thought about Leo every day, adding: “We need a minimum of sentence for carrying a knife and then sticking to that minimum sentence.”
Discussing young people carrying knives, Mr Marcus said: “They haven’t even opened their eyes. They don’t know what life’s about. Stop and search is essential. It’s essential to stopping these young boys from carrying knives. If you carry it, you’re going to use it. It’s not for protection.”
Last year police recovered about 3,800 weapons and made 27,800 drugs seizures through stop-and-search activity across London.
The Metropolitan Police said stop and search “remains one of the most effective tools available to officers to prevent violence and detect crime”.
The force carried out a three-day surge operation in August focused on tackling serious youth violence, with a “particular emphasis on identifying and disrupting the carrying of knives and other weapons”.
The operation, involving 114 stop and searches, resulted in 14 arrests – including six for possession of an offensive weapon, one of which was for possessing a Taser.
Officers carried out targeted activity across Lewisham, Greenwich and Bexley, using crime data and intelligence to deploy at locations where the risk of violence and weapon carrying was highest.
A deployment across nine days in July involving 317 stop and searches resulted in 30 arrests and the recovery of 16 weapons. Bodyworn footage released by the force showed officers uncovering large knives from men who were searched.
Detective Superintendent Lewis Sanderson said social media allowed “easy access” to weaponry such as knives.
Discussing stop and search, he told the Press Association: “It’s an effective tool that reduces the amount of weapons on the street and every weapon we take off the street is another life saved.”
He said officers were focused on “educating” young people on why they were stopping and searching them.
The officer added: “A good stop and search is about informing them of the reasons why they’ve been stopped.
“Educating them about the area, educating them about the impact that knife crime can have on them and their families and the local area.”
The Metropolitan Police said “knife-enabled crime fell by 14.9% in 2025/26 compared with the previous year” across London, including a 21% reduction in knife-enabled robbery and an 8.4% reduction in offences where a knife was used to cause injury.
Looking for more from MyLondon? Subscribe to our daily newsletters here for the latest and greatest updates from across London.
