POLICE arrested 55 people and seized 17 weapons, including machetes, Zombie knives and a sword, during a week-long knife crime crackdown in the West Midlands.
The national Operation Sceptre campaign ran from 9-15 November and saw police teams across the region targeting suspected knife crime offenders and searching for hidden weapons.
Superintendent Gareth Morris, of West Midlands Police, said: “There was some really great work by officers across the patch, dangerous weapons taken off the streets and dozens of arrests.”
Officers conducted more than 100 stop and searches, sweeps of parks and open spaces – which yielded 20 weapons – plus metal-detecting operations at transport hubs.
Notable arrests included two teenagers found with large combat knives in separate incidents in Birmingham city centre and Chelmsley Wood.
Officers on robbery patrols in Birmingham’s Upper Dean Street (15 Nov) chased down a 16-year-old in the Arcadian car park after he ran from them.
He was charged with possessing an offensive weapon, admitted the offence at Birmingham Magistrates Court on November 17, and returned to a youth detention facility after it was found he was on licence for previous knife offences.
And the previous day another 16-year-old ran from officers during a stop and search in Solihull. A knife was found in his waistband and a large quantity of cannabis in dealer bags seized from a rucksack.
He has been bailed till a date next month to give officers more time to conduct enquiries.
And in the early hours of 15 November officers stopped the driver of an Audi in Lawley Middleway, Birmingham on suspicion of drink driving.
A machete was recovered at the scene and a machete sheath found concealed inside the man’s trouser leg. A 29-year-old man was released under investigation and sent to a mental health unit for an assessment.
Anyone who suspects someone routinely carries a knife is urged to report their concerns to police.
You can call the independent charity Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555111 – callers will not be asked their name – or contact West Midlands Police on 101 or Live Chat at west-midlands.police.uk between 8am and midnight.
