Knife Surrender – Operation Sceptre takes a whopping 250 weapons off the streets!

Throughout the past three weeks of November we have taken part in Operation Sceptre, which is a national campaign to remove unwanted knives from the streets of our communities.

Removing weapons from the streets is only one part of this operation, we also look to educate people about the risks of carrying knives.

Leading the operation for Humberside police was Superintendent Lee Edwards, he said, “I am delighted that 250 knives have now been taken off the streets of our Force area, these surrenders show us that people really do want to make a difference in their communities and help us to get unwanted knives out of circulation.

“Taking these off the street mean that they cannot find their way into the hands of someone who might use it to cause harm to another person.

“This operation was not just about getting people to surrender their knives and weapons though.

“In addition to the knife surrender, over the course of the three weeks of action, 14 warrants were executed, 21 people were arrested resulting in two people charged with knife offences.

“Over 200 shops were visited and spoken to about the sale of knives and a dozen schools were visited to give educational talks to children.  This gave our neighbourhood officers a good opportunity to talk to their local retailers about how to stay within the law and make our communities safer for everyone.

“Throughout the operations we have been conducting targeted patrolling in areas where we know to have local issues and conducted weapons sweeps and using our knife arch in public areas.

“I want to thank the public for their support and for the officers and staff who have worked hard during this November’s operation.  I hope they see this as a really positive and direct way in which they can help keep their own communities safe.”