Nottinghamshire police take part in seven day knife amnesty

A week-long knife amnesty gets underway in Nottinghamshire next week to encourage the public to hand them in.

Unwanted knives can be brought into police stations, including Newark, as part of the national knife crime campaign Operation Sceptre.

It starts on Monday and continues until midnight on Sunday. Red knife amnesty bins will be located at 13 police stations and partner agency receptions across the county.

The police want the public to hand over their unwanted knives at nominated locations, without fear of prosecution for doing so, for the duration of the operation.

It is the first knife amnesty to be held in the county since 2013 - when 278 knives were handed in.

Police forces across the country are taking part in the amnesty, with the aim of preventing knives falling into the hands of criminals.

Assistant Chief Constable Kate Meynell said: "Knives have no place on the streets of Nottinghamshire and we work tirelessly alongside partner agencies to catch offenders and prevent people becoming involved in knife crime in the first place.

"Nottinghamshire Police has the only dedicated Knife Crime Team outside of the Metropolitan Police and has reintroduced Schools and Early Intervention Officers who visit schools across Nottinghamshire to talk to young people about issues including knife crime.

"We also use positive, targeted response activity and carry out thorough investigations.

"We are proud to support this national seven-day knife amnesty as part of Operation Sceptre as yet another method of reducing the number of knives that could potentially fall into the wrong hands."

The amnesty bins are at various locations around the county meaning people should all have one within easy access.

"We want the process of handing them in to be as simple as possible so there will be no paperwork to fill in. People can simply drop them in the bins and leave, and we will collect them all up at the end of the week and destroy them," she added.

Chief Inspector Donna Lawton, knife crime lead for Nottinghamshire Police, said: "We would like to thank our communities for their support in tackling knife crime. Your support really does help us build up intelligence on suspected offenders and target our resources effectively.

"We are also giving people the chance to dispose of any unwanted knives they may have - perhaps an old weapon that's been in the loft for years and you didn't know what to do with it. Now is the time to hand it in and we will dispose of it safely."

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