Op Sceptre Review

A week long anti knife crime operation carried out by Leicestershire Police has led to 20 arrests and a quantity of weapons being taken off the streets.

Operation Sceptre formed part of a national campaign aimed at reducing knife crime by targeting those carrying weapons and disrupt the supply of knives available to use.

In all, 10 knives were seized by officers, 20 knives were recovered during 15 knife sweeps across the county and a total of 370 knives were recorded in the knife surrender bins around Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland.

As part of the week, officers conducted a knife sweep in the New Parks area of Leicester and visited habitual knife carriers across the city and county. Knife arches were deployed in several locations, including Leicester and Loughborough train stations, working in connection with the British Transport Police

Officers also conducted proactive patrols and a number of stop and search activity where appropriate.

Working closely with the Violence Reduction Network (VRN) and local partners a number of engagement activities were conducted with young people.

Officers supported local community colleges with anti-knife and drug events and were out on patrol alongside youth workers.

The VRN launched its new Mentors in Violence Prevention programme in a number of schools, the programme aims to empower and equip secondary school students to play their role in helping to prevent violence.

Online, officers conducted digital knife crime awareness sessions, these were hosted virtually and attended by 6,559 students and 322 professionals across 26 establishments.

The workshops acted as forum for pupils and teachers to discuss aspects that lead to potential knife carrying and explore preventative measures, advice and support.

Why not start the conversation today with our 10 step guide? To find the guide and more knife crime resources and advice please visit our website at www.leics.police.uk/LivesNotKnives.