Operation Sceptre Targets Knife Crime

11 March 2019, 09:22 | Updated: 11 March 2019, 09:24

A week of action on knife crime's starting.

Merseyside Police say this week they want to talk to the public about what they're doing to tackle it.

This week officers will be carrying out stop searches, open land searches and weapon sweeps. There will also bee knife amnesty bins in police stations and high visibility patrols using knife arches or wands will also be out at key times in busy locations.

Inspector Andy Creer said: "A lot of work goes on behind the scenes to address the issue of knife crime and what can be done about it but one of the most important tools we have is education. Most people probably don’t realise that carrying a knife can make a young person up to 60% more likely to become a victim of knife crime themselves.
"Nobody wants to be a statistic and I want to appeal directly to parents and guardians - talk to your children about knife crime, educate them of the dangers and help us to make it socially unacceptable for ANYONE to carry a knife when they go out.
"Anyone who chooses to pick up a knife could be throwing away their lives and destroying the lives of others. Merseyside has seen at first hand the tragedy of knife crime and the effect it can have on the victims, the knife crime offenders and the families left behind. Nobody wants that knock on the door from the police so please, have that conversation with your loved ones.
"I want to reassure our communities that we will continue our work day in and day out and we are committed to getting rid of the problem of knife crime by working closely with our partners to help prevent and disrupt criminal activity.
"We will also continue to act on information reported to us through local policing teams or community leaders.
"But this is not a problem that Merseyside Police can tackle alone and we need everyone to be involved."

It's as Greater Manchester Police say more knives are being hidden in public to be used in crime, it means offenders are less likely to be caught carrying them.

The force is urging people to 'open your eyes to knives' to raise awareness of the dangers ofthem being hidden in our communities.

Visitors to GMP's Social media platforms will be asked to spot the knife hidden in a number of images released during the week across Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, encouraging conversation around the subject.

Greater Manchester Police's Assistant Chief Constable Rob Potts said: ""It's a sad fact that people are not only carrying knives, but are now also hiding weapons in and around public places and that can be very worrying for members of the public.

"The more knives that are on the streets only leads to one outcome - more people getting hurt - and we are determined to act to stop these implements getting into the wrong hands.
"To ensure police and partner resources are targeted in the communities where they are needed most, we are asking the public to be aware and report any knife sightings to us reduce the circulation of weapons in our communities."