A knife amnesty has been announced by police to run across Gedling borough.
Drop-off bins will be available at Carlton fire station and Gedling Borough Council Civic Centre in Arnold during the campaign.
The week-long amnesty starts today (16) across Nottinghamshire and will run through to September 22.
A total of 635 bladed weapons were handed in at the last amnesty, and Assistant Chief Constable Kate Meynell, of Nottinghamshire Police, said she hoped the growing support from the community would lead to more weapons being taken out of circulation.
She said: “Knife amnesties are a chance for people across Nottinghamshire to play their own individual part in making their communities a safer place to live, work and visit by removing potentially dangerous weapons from the grasp of those who might use them to cause fear and harm,”
“This will be the third amnesty we have held in 18 months and each time we have seen more weapons handed in and more support from external partners wanting to help us to make a difference. That is really encouraging because it shows more and more people are recognising that they can have an impact and that every weapon recovered has the potential to save lives.
“It is also pleasing that we now have so many amnesty bin locations that are in community locations, because we recognise that not everyone feels comfortable visiting police stations.”
As well as the amnesty, Nottinghamshire Police will also showcase the work it does to tackle knife crime all year round with a series of events during Operation Sceptre all next week.
This will include educational sessions on knife crime for schoolchildren, community weapons sweeps and proactive operations. Paddy Tipping, Nottinghamshire’s Police and Crime Commissioner, has been successfully lobbying for additional funding to tackle the scourge of knife crime.
He said: “Every knife and sharp instrument that is handed in is off the streets and no longer a potential deadly weapon. But the police cannot tackle knife crime in isolation, enforcement alone will not succeed. I am grateful to see so many of our partners joining the multi-agency operations against knife related violence, working to make people aware that merely carrying a knife is highly dangerous and helping offenders to rehabilitate and move away from a life of violence and criminality.
“Help us to make our streets a safer place by using this opportunity to surrender these lethal bladed weapons and, if you know or suspect that someone carries a knife, please contact your local police or Crimestoppers.”
People can hand in their knives without fear of prosecution for doing so for the duration of the amnesty. They are advised to check the opening times of their nearest participating amnesty bin location before they visit. Anyone wishing to hand in an oversized item such as a sword should go to a participating police station rather than a partner agency site.