Officers from the Met Police arrested a man in Surbiton yesterday (May 12) after he was found hiding a sword in his waistband.
The arrested was publicised by Kingston Met Police on Twitter, who said the unidentified male remained in custody at present.
Yesterday evening (12th May), a male in #Surbiton was stopped and searched. Found in his waistband was this sword.
— Kingston Police | #StayAlert (@MPSKingston) May 13, 2020
Needless to say that the 31 year old male was arrested and is now in police custody. #ChooseLifeNotaKnife pic.twitter.com/ZeesjCwIMa
On Wednesday (May 13), a spokesperson for Kingston MPS offered further details in a Twitter post:
"Yesterday evening (12th May), a male in Surbiton was stopped and searched. Found in his waistband was this sword.
"Needless to say that the 31 year old male was arrested and is now in police custody.
"#ChooseLifeNotaKnife."
The post was uploaded with an accompanying picture which appeared to show a small Katana-like samurai sword.
The Met Police have rigorously defended the use of the controversial 'Stop and Search' policy, which allows police to stop and search anyone they have "reasonable grounds" to suspect is involved in a crime.
An analysis of Home Office statistics made by civil rights group Liberty in 2019 showed that black people in England and Wales were "40 times more likely than white people" to be stopped and searched, leading Liberty to describe the policy as a "recipe for discrimination".
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