MORE than one in four shops broke the law by selling knives to children during a week long operation by Avon and Somerset Police.

Operation Sceptre was part of a national initiative aimed at reducing the number of knives on our streets.

Key highlights and successes of the operation in the Avon and Somerset fore area included:

  • 32 weapons sweeps resulting in the recovery of 16 knives;
  • 127 knives surrendered to 14 bins across the force area;
  • of 82 retailers visited to check their compliance with the law banning the sale of knives to under 18s, 22 stores sold a knife to a child. They will receive guidance and warning notices;
  • 22 community meetings and visits to schools and youth groups took place;
  • 20 intelligence led high visibility patrols in areas of high demand;
  • community leaflet drops about the Offensive Weapons Act, which makes certain items previously legal to possess in private now illegal;
  • a social media campaign with 150,000 impressions and signposting young people to anonymous knife crime reporting via Fearless.org.

Avon and Somerset Police’s lead for knife crime Chief Inspector James Turner said: “There are now 145 fewer knives that could be used to cause serious harm on our streets as a direct result of last week’s operation.

“Of course, our work to tackle knife crime goes on all year round.

"There’s a number of projects and areas of focus we are pursuing as we head into 2022, including working with the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner and local communities to consider where and how we can make more knife surrender bins available.

"We’re also upscaling the delivery of our Blunt Truth workshops so that more schools and community groups in Avon and Somerset can benefit from this fantastic project.

“The causes of knife crime are complex and multi-faceted.

"The results of last week’s operation show that enforcement does have a strong role to play in making our streets safer.

"Alongside this, we continue to work with our communities and other partners to pursue a multiagency approach based on early intervention and diversion, so that young people don’t get mixed up in activity which could lead to them or their friends coming to serious harm.”