More than 1,700 arrests and 9,000 knives seized during latest Operation Sceptre

Over 1,700 arrests were also made during Operation Sceptre as police forces across England and Wales worked with local partners and organisations in a range of tactics to tackle knife crime.

Operation Sceptre is a week of action that runs twice a year.

In the latest operation, which ran from November 10 to 17, 9,376 knives were recovered in total. Some of these were from weapons’ sweeps undertaken to look for knives which are often concealed or discarded in public areas, others from knife bins and a number from arrests and warrants.

In addition, 1,719 arrests were made over the week across the country for various knife offences. Forces this November had a particular focus on knife-enabled robbery, conducting additional patrols of hot spots and targeting high harm offenders.

The National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) said education and early intervention activity continues to be a “core part” of work to tackle knife crime with more than 6,000 visits conducted to schools and community groups, and inputs, supported by technology such as VR headsets, which immerse participants in decision-making around knife carrying.

Commander Stephen Clayman, NPCC lead for knife crime, said: “Our work to tackle knife crime from a number of different perspectives, both nationally and locally, continues to develop and Sceptre really brings this together, highlighting those ongoing collective efforts.

“The number of weapons seized and arrests made will always provide some measure of effectiveness, but what is particularly encouraging are the ever more innovative ways that police forces are working with partners in their communities to tackle knife crime.

“I got to see this when visiting Nottingham and Leeds, seeing the really effective collaboration between policing, education, voluntary sector and Violence Reduction Partnerships.”

He added: “At a national level, we continue to work closely with government on restricting the accessibility of knives, and we were pleased to see additional measures announced for consultation during Sceptre week.

“We welcome the chance to take part in the consultation and explore the most effective means of achieving this, including using the findings of the ongoing online sales review which will be completed in January.

“We’ve always said that policing alone cannot solve the problem and we will continue to work hard with, communities, partners and government to bring real, impactful change.”

Policing Minister, Dame Diana Johnson said: “The fact that almost 10,000 knives were recovered during one week alone shows just how crucial this work being done by forces across the country is, not just during this operation, but all year round.

“We are absolutely committed to giving policing the resources they need and ensuring the right legislation is in place to support them in our ongoing mission to halve knife crime over the next decade. We are shortly introducing the ban on ninja swords and placing tougher sanctions on social media executives who fail to remove illegal content from their platforms.

“I also look forward to seeing the findings of Commander Clayman’s review into online knife sales and, if further legislation is needed, we will work as swiftly as possible to make our streets safer.”