Dispose of your weapons says Thames Valley Police in knife crime Operation Sceptre week

A week dedicated to tackling knife crime has begun at Thames Valley Police (TVP).

Operation Sceptre, which began on November 13, focuses on education, action and raising awareness of knife crime and violence.

TVP said all recorded knife crime is down four per cent across the whole of the Thames Valley in the past year.

It is said to remain low with 1,186 offence recorded between October 1 and October 31 – a reduction of 55 offences when compared with the same period the year before.

The Thames Valley is one of 20 areas with a Home Office-funded Violence Reduction Unit (VRU) which is a partnership of local councils, police, fire, education, health and community groups.

The VRU also funds a range of innovative early intervention projects.

These include access to sport, support offered in A&E and police custody, one-to-one mentoring in schools and education packages.

There is also a new mobile app which deploys officers to hotspot areas across the force providing a high visibility presence.

Across 97 identified hotspots for violence, TVP said officers delivered more than 23,000 additional high-visibility patrols in the past year.

Force strategic lead for violence reduction superintendent Lewis Prescott-Mayling said latest results show that TVP’s approach is having an effect, with knife crime continuing to fall over the force area.

“Thankfully, knife crime remains low,” he said.

“However, we continue to see tragic and shocking incidents across the region, too often with young lives lost or ruined forever.

“Any incident is one too many.”

He said knife amnesty bins are always available, providing an opportunity to dispose of a weapon with no questions asked.

He added: “If you have a weapon, maybe you thought it may protect you, get rid of it.

“Finally, if you are worried, or have any information, we urge you to contact the police or if you do not wish to speak to us, report to Fearless.org without having to give your name.

“You may just save a life.”