'It only takes one knife to take a life'
North Yorkshire Police are running a week-long campaign on knife crime, as part of Operation Sceptre.
Today (Monday 26th April) marks the start of Operation Sceptre; a coordinated week of activity where police forces across the country raise awareness of knife crime and through information and intelligence, proactively target any knife related offences.
Officers from North Yorkshire Police's youth team will also be involved, carrying out educational work with young people who may be thinking of, or already carrying knives and encouraging them to make the right decisions.
A statement from North Yorkshire Police explains how the campaign will work: "A number of local police stations will also be offering knife surrender bins, where members of the public can take along any unwanted knives and safely dispose of them.
"Bins will be available all throughout the week at York, Scarborough, Malton, Harrogate, Skipton, Northallerton and Richmond police stations. Anyone who is wanting to dispose of a knife is asked to ensure they transport it to the police station in a safe manner".
Detective Superintendent Fran Naughton of North Yorkshire Police said “Fortunately rates of knife crime in North Yorkshire are low, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t work for us to do to keep it that way. It only takes one knife in the wrong hands to cause utter devastation to a family.
“Operation Sceptre gives us the opportunity to ensure the warnings around the fatal consequences of carrying knives are kept at the forefront of the public’s mind and gives us the opportunity to get even more of these deadly weapons off our streets.
"It also provides us with a platform to send out a clear deterrence message to anyone who carries a knife for self-defence; that it’s a completely false sense of security. Producing a knife does not de-escalate a confrontation, it makes a bad situation worse and drastically increases the chance of you yourself being injured by that blade.
"To anyone who is concerned for a friend or family member who they think maybe carrying a knife, please speak to them and explain the dangers. Tell them the safer and smarter thing to do is to put the knife down, or come and surrender it this week at a bin located at one of our police stations.
"Officers will be proactively targeting any knife related offences and we will use our powers where necessary, to prevent injury or worse. So my advice is to put down the knife. By doing so you make yourself and those around you safer".