Officers authorise emergency powers in response to serious assault in Southampton

Officers in Southampton have authorised a Section 60 order in response to attempted murder incident which occurred in Coleman Street at around 1.10pm yesterday afternoon (Friday 18 November).

An 18-year-old man, a 19-year-old man and a 21-year-old man, all from Southampton, have been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder. They all remain in custody at this time.

Section 60 is an emergency power which allows officers to stop and search anyone in a designated location, without the restrictions of normal stop and search.

Section 60s are implemented in order to prevent serious violence from occurring, or in response to an incident of serious violence and will be in place across Southampton until 7pm this evening (Saturday 19 November).

However these powers can be extended at any time.

Southampton-based Police Sergeant Geoff Cole, said: “This level of violence and use of weapons in Southampton will not be tolerated.

“We are able to implement a Section 60 order at any time and we will use further powers if we need to in order to prevent this kind of disorder from happening.

“These are not measures that we put in place lightly, but we have done so on this occasion to minimise the risk to the local residents of Southampton and ensure that there are no further incidents of this nature in our communities.

“You will likely continue to see an increased police presence across multiple areas of Southampton why our officers continue their enquiries and establish the circumstances that led to serious assault yesterday afternoon in broad daylight.

“If you have information about this incident or if you have any concerns, then I would implore you to please speak to any of our officers that you might see in the community.

“I would just like to take this opportunity to thank members of the public for their ongoing support during a time where there has been undoubtedly a lot of concern. We want to reassure you that we are increasing our patrols, and working hard with partners and wider support services to identify those who are repeatedly intent on causing harm.”