Anna Firth MP is celebrating the success of her campaign to get knife poles introduced in Southend.
On Thursday 14th July, Anna Firth MP went on a trip around Southend with the police force, doing a pilot for the newly introduced state-of-the-art electronic knife poles.
The state-of-the-art knife poles are freestanding portable units, and take seconds to be deployed. The innovative technology can differentiate common metals such as jewellery, phones and medical equipment, and only picks up offensive weapons and IEDs.
Anna has tirelessly campaigned for these knife poles for the last several months. She has met with the local police force to discuss the need for the poles. She has written multiple times to the Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner, local police chiefs and the Home Secretary to ensure that these poles are in place before the summer. Anna has also dedicated articles in the local press to campaigning for them.
Anna also raised the issue at questions time in the House of Commons in June with the Home Secretary, Priti Patel. On that occasion, Anna asked:
“Knife crime and antisocial behaviour is, sadly, all too prevalent in Southend. Our excellent local police want state-of-the-art, portable electronic knife polls, which are cheaper and more effective than knife arch systems. Does the Secretary of State agree that having those in place by the holiday period must be a priority for Southend police?”
Responding to Anna’s question, the Home Secretary said:
“May I congratulate my hon. Friend on the assiduous way in which she has made representations to me and the Home Office directly on this issue? She has a great relationship with Essex police, which is a very robust police force on this issue. She highlighted a practical solution in terms of how knife crime can be and is being addressed through knife polls, and I have seen in her constituency some of the exceptional work taking place on that.”
The Southend Police Force finally received the knife poles for their armoury only a couple of days ago and before the holiday period, and the officers have been put through special training to use them in the most effective way.
Inspector Hogben said at the pilot event,
“This piece of kit is different to what you would have seen previously. It is more than just a metal detector; it is looking for significant metal mass which is indicative of someone carrying a weapon. Straight away it gives us more grounds to make calls for suspicions for grounds for searching”
Anna said,
“My main focus as the new MP is to make Southend West Safer. I have campaigned for months to ensure we have these poles in our armoury, and I am so glad we have finally received them. I am really proud that we have a police force here that is always moving forward to try and keep us all safer.”
