Partnership working highlighted in action to tackle knife crime

Sceptre is a week of action which runs twice a year and sees police forces highlight a range of tactics in the fight to keep communities safe from the blight of knife crime.

The latest week of action which ran 10 – 17 November 2024, saw participation from police forces across England and Wales in a range of tactics working with local partners and organisations.

9,376 knives were recovered in total during the week. Some of these from weapons’ sweeps undertaken to look for knives which are often concealed or discarded in public areas, others from knife bins and a number from arrests and warrants.

1,719 arrests were made over the week across the country for various knife offences and forces this November had a particular focus on knife enabled robbery, conducting additional patrols of hot spots and targeting high harm offenders.

Education and early intervention activity continues to be a core part of work to tackle knife crime with over 6,000 visits conducted to schools and community groups, and inputs, supported by technology such as VR headsets which quite literally immerse participants in decision-making around knife carrying.

Commander Stephen Clayman is National Police Chiefs’ Council lead for knife crime. He said:

“Our work to tackle knife crime from a number of different perspectives, both nationally and locally, continues to develop and Sceptre really brings this together, highlighting those ongoing collective efforts.

“The number of weapons seized and arrests made will always provide some measure of effectiveness, but what is particularly encouraging are the ever more innovative ways that police forces are working with partners in their communities to tackle knife crime. I got to see this when visiting Nottingham and Leeds, seeing the really effective collaboration between policing, education, voluntary sector and Violence Reduction Partnerships.”

“At a national level, we continue to work closely with government on restricting the accessibility of knives, and we were pleased to see additional measures announced for consultation during Sceptre week. We welcome the chance to take part in the consultation and explore the most effective means of achieving this, including using the findings of the ongoing online sales review which will be completed in January.

“We’ve always said that policing alone cannot solve the problem and we will continue to work hard with, communities, partners and government to bring real, impactful change.”

Policing Minister, Dame Diana Johnson said:

“The fact that almost 10,000 knives were recovered during one week alone shows just how crucial this work being done by forces across the country is, not just during this operation, but all year round.

“We are absolutely committed to giving policing the resources they need and ensuring the right legislation is in place to support them in our ongoing mission to halve knife crime over the next decade. We are shortly introducing the ban on ninja swords and placing tougher sanctions on social media executives who fail to remove illegal content from their platforms.

“I also look forward to seeing the findings of Commander Clayman’s review into online knife sales and, if further legislation is needed, we will work as swiftly as possible to make our streets safer.”