Merseyside police stations are providing a drop-off point for people to hand in bladed weapons in a knife surrender running from November 13 to 19. The initiative is linked to national knife crime campaign Operation Sceptre, and follows the Offensive Weapons Act 2019, which bans possession of offensive weapons in private places, including homes. A 15% reduction in knife crime and 13% fall in serious violence offences has been reported across Merseyside in the last year. Among the weapons now illegal are flick knives, knuckle dusters, stealth knives, zombie knives and blowpipes or blow guns.
People can drop off weapons at 10 Merseyside police stations, while stop searches, open land searches, weapons sweeps and community outreach will also take place. Officers with Serious Violence Reduction Orders, granted in partnership with the Crown Prosecution Service against high-risk knife-crime offenders, will also monitor individuals in public. In hotspot areas, intensive, high-visibility foot patrols will target known offenders.
Merseyside’s Police Commissioner, Emily Spurrell, prioritises the fight on knife crime, and said Operation Sceptre presented an opportunity to raise awareness of the importance of preventing such crimes. Despite the reduced number of incidents, Spurrell argued there was still work to do and evidence shows that those who carry knives, even for self-defence, are more likely to suffer harm.
Inspector Laura Leach, Deputy Lead for Serious Violence and Knife Crime, stressed the reducing knife crime in Merseyside mattered to the force all year round and called on anyone currently possessing prohibited items to turn these in. While workload is significant, many weapons are held ignorantly of their illegality; education initiatives, aligned with Knifesavers and Mentors in Violence programmes, seek to convince the public of potential harm in knife crime
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