138 knives handed in at police bins across Leicestershire during week-long campaign
The week of action ran from 15 to 21 November
138 knives have been handed in at police bins across Leicestershire during a week of action to tackle knife crime.
Operation Sceptre saw more than seven thousand young people taking part in online anti-knife crime workshops across the county.
During that week eight knives were recovered by police. The week of action, which ran from Monday 15 November to Sunday 21 November, also resulted in 34 arrests, nine of them for knife-related offences.
The workshops were organised during Operation Sceptre - a national week of education and action designed to target those who carry weapons, education young people about the dangers and consequences of carrying a knife and disrupt the supply of knives.
Throughout the week another five thousand students met and spoke to local beat teams who visited secondary schools in their neighbourhood, using a knife arch to show young people one of the ways officers can detect people carrying something metal.
The knife arch was deployed 49 times during the week in parks, train stations and under passes as well as schools.
The Principal of Judgemeadow Community College said:
"Knife crime in Leicester poses a real threat to our young people. That is why at Judgemeadow we're delighted to be working with Leicestershire Police to educate our pupils about the dangers of carrying a knife and how to keep themselves safe. The police have been working with us at school, delivering workshops to our pupils ensuring they understand how dangerous it is to carry a knife. Keeping children in our community safe is our top priority. "
In total, eight knives were recovered during 65 knife sweeps and a total of 138 knives/bladed items were recovered from knife surrender bins at six police stations. Officers made 51 visits to people suspected, through intelligence, to be knife carriers.
Detective Chief Inspector Gavin Drummond, from Leicestershire Police’s Violent and Complex Crime Unit, said:
“What has been the highlight for me during this Op Sceptre has been the fantastic engagement, through schools and colleges, with young people across the force area. We had an incredible response to our online workshops and our new social media campaign aimed at young people called ‘We Don’t Carry’ and we’ve worked with different interventions designed and commissioned by the VRN, for example the Violence Intervention Project at the Leicester Royal Infirmary. Enforcement is of course important too but if we can work with our partners to stop people carrying a knife in the first place that would be the perfect result.”