Over 250 knives recovered as part of county-wide crackdown

Officers from across Cheshire Police intensified their efforts in tackling knife crime, engaging with residents, retailers and young people across the county about knife safety and recovering 254 bladed articles.

Operation Sceptre ran from Monday 11 November to Sunday 17 November and saw police officers and staff from across the Constabulary working together with partner organisations and Cheshire residents to reduce the impact of knife crime.

As part of November's national operation, police also spotlighted the everyday work done to tackle street robbery in Cheshire, in a parallel operation - Operation Calibre. 

Cheshire continues to have one of the lowest rates of knife crime in the country (32 out of 43 forces), however, over the last 12 months, there has been a 5.4% increase in the number of recorded offences (624 between April 2023 to March 2024, compared to 592 between April 2022 to March 2023).

This figure is partially the result of our continued proactive stop and search approach – meaning there has been an increase in the number of people arrested for possessing bladed weapons, which in turn has helped to remove illegal weapons from Cheshire's streets.

Cheshire Constabulary remains determined to reduce the number of knives and bladed weapons carried across the region, with efforts in tackling knife crime being intensified through enforcement and engagement initiatives that were held across the county’s seven main regions during the week of action.

Activities during the week-long operation included community knife sweeps, the execution of warrants concerning knife crime, engagement in the community and the stepping up of patrols in hotspot areas.

All Local Policing Units across the county also held knife amnesty events, which allowed residents to safely dispose of any unwanted blades or weapons in secure knife surrender bins. In particular, officers in Runcorn, Knutsford and Winsford, securely disposed of a variety of different bladed weapons that ranged in sizes, with samurai swords, machetes and zombie-style knives being handed in by local residents.

In Warrington, Neighbourhood officers and Chief Inspector Neil Drum supported the RAPAID charity which was rolling out specialist military-grade bandage kits to local Warrington taxi drivers at Bank Quay Station.

In total, 50 of these kits were handed out to the drivers. The kits in question are designed to stem serious blood loss following a knife attack or serious accident and include an easy-to-follow non-perishable instruction card for the drivers or members of the public to use.

In Crewe, officers worked with the British Transport Police as part of a county lines operation that was executed at the station, with a number of stop searches conducted, disrupting the transportation of drugs and weapons in and out of the town.

All this work and much more that was conducted during Operation Sceptre week resulted in:

• 28 weapons sweeps being executed
• 34 surrender bins being deployed
• 54 stop searches were conducted, leading to six arrests.
• 20 community meetings held
• 53 school/education inputs given
• 46 retailers visited for test-purchase operations

These intensified efforts resulted in a total of 254 knives being taken off of Cheshire's streets.

Superintendent Andrew Blizard, Cheshire Constabulary's Knife Crime Lead, said:

"We are particularly proud that, when compared to our fellow home forces, knife crime in Cheshire remains low; but we are seeing a considerable number of people across the county in possession of knives and bladed weapons. This is something that we as a force will not tolerate.

"We know it can be worrying to hear about people being injured or killed by knives, but I would like to reiterate that choosing to carry one yourself does not make you any safer and can put you more at risk. A knife usually makes a situation much worse.

"Tackling knife-related incidents is part of our day-to-day business of keeping everyone in Cheshire safe, and I would like to thank our officers, staff, and partner organisations for helping Cheshire Constabulary intensify their efforts to reduce its impact.

"I would also like to take this opportunity to thank the many Cheshire residents, youth representatives and community groups our officers engaged with over the course of the week who have helped us keep Cheshire a hostile environment for anyone who chooses to pick up a blade."

To report any type of crime involving weapons, call Cheshire Constabulary on 101 or 999 in an emergency.

Anyone who knows someone that carries a knife can report it to Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111 or via: 

https://crimestoppers-uk.org/give-information/forms/give-information-anonymously

Information can also be passed to the force online via: 

https://www.cheshire.police.uk/ro/report.