Police call for public help in war on knife crime

OVER 250 WEAPONS were taken off the streets by three police forces working together across the capital over half term. The action, the latest phase of Operation Sceptre, was part of a national week of action across the UK.

The City of London Police and British Transport Police joined the Metropolitan Police in London, where 289 arrests were made – including 63 arrests for possession of a knife or offensive weapons. Across London, after 645 sweeps were carried out, 265 knives, six firearms and 45 other offensive weapons were recovered.

One of the firearms recovered in the week of action

Central to the operation was the Metropolitan Police Sceptre Taskforce Team of 100 officers, who worked with borough teams to target knife crime hotspots. In addition, 76 intelligence-based warrants were executed, as well as further operations to target wanted offenders.

Acting Detective Chief Superintendent Sean Yates was pleased with the outcome of the week of action, but he called on the public to help the police initiative. “This work is carried out every day across London. There is an ongoing, concerted effort by officers across the Met to tackle this scourge on our streets,” he said.

“But such proactive action is only part of the solution as enforcement can only get us so far. This is not just a policing issue, we need everyone to join together to tackle knife crime. The work of our schools officers, communities, partners and the various projects and conferences taking place across the Met are vital in helping to achieve this.”

British Transport Police Assistant Chief Constable Robin Smith confirmed that the war on dangerous weapons continued across public transport. He said, “Knife crime takes lives and devastates communities. There is never an acceptable reason for someone to be carrying a knife on the railway network.”

•For more information about how you can stop knife crime, go to:
https://www.met.police.uk/StopKnifeCrime

•For information on how to find knife bins where you can deposit knives, go to:
https://www.met.police.uk/crime-prevention/stop-knife-crime/operation-sceptre/

•Read more about it:
Police devote a week to tackling knife crime
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