Telford drop-in session calls time on knife attacks
Police officers, ambulance staff and support workers turned out to a community centre in Telford as part of an ongoing campaign to reduce knife crime.
West Mercia Police, West Midlands Ambulance Service, a community safe team and members from the campaign group Surrender your Knife, Save a Life joined members of the public at Brookside Community Centre yesterday.
Officers also conducted a street sweep through Brookside to rid the area of any sharp or bladed objects.
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Conducting the work as part of Operation Sceptre, a national campaign to tackle knife crime, the informative drop in session was also used to promote West Mercia Police's 'Calling Time on Knife Crime' campaign, a knife crime strategy trialled in Telford that is now being rolled out in Shropshire, Herefordshire and Worcestershire.
The force is set to hold a number of similar "community roadshows", with a similar event taking place in Donnington later this week.
West Mercia Police Assistant Chief Constable Martin Evans said: "Operation Sceptre is a national campaign that we are a part of.
"There are lots of initiatives taking place including community roadshow events and community weapon sweeps.
"In Brookside, this involved us walking through looking for sharp objects and weapons, and we are holding a similar event in Donnington later in the week.
"Officers are also going into schools to hear concerns and patrol the area once they finish."
As part of the campaign, knife amnesty bins have been placed in Malinsgate Police Station in Telford and Shrewsbury Police Station.
Assistant Chief Constable Evans added that members of the public are often in possession of illegal weapons without knowing how to dispose of them.
He said: "Lots of people have hand-me-down swords, machetes and illegal knives that they just don't know what to do with.
"This is the opportunity to bring them in, no questions asked, and take them off the streets."
