National crackdown sees 9,000 knives seized
manchestereveningnews.co.ukThousands of blades have been seized as part of a national operation to tackle knife crime. Operation Sceptre has also led to nearly 2,000 arrests, police chiefs have said.
The operation, which was undertaken by all 43 forces in England and Wales, including Greater Manchester Police, as well as the British Transport Police.
It officially recorded 1,947 arrests, with 831 related to knife crime offences. A number of different tactics were used to remove knives from the streets - including honesty bins, knife arches and weapon sweeps.
Officers seized 1,074 knives while 8,401 were surrendered or seized during sweeps. This is an increase of 14 per cent since the last Operation Sceptre in 2021, according to figures from the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC). READ MORE:'It's a farce': Couple cancel holiday after Tui reschedules journey more than 40 hours after original departure The police also worked with the prison service to sweep cells, with 131 inmates searched in 100 cells across eight prisons.
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