Amnesty takes knives off county's streets

82 weapon were taken off the streets of Hertfordshire last month, as part of a county-wide knife amnesty.

The one-week initiative was part of a national campaign to reduce the number of illegal knives in circulation.

Items handed in included a saw, crowbar, meat cleaver and a number of combat-style knives.

In addition, although  Hertfordshire experiences  little knife crime compared with other parts of the  country, the amnesty  provided an opportunity to  issue some strong messages and advice about the risks of carrying a knife in public.

Officers also ran a series of test purchase operations in the county, using police  cadets who tried to buy knives from 30 retailers in Hemel Hempstead, Watford, and  Stevenage. The underage  cadets managed to buy knives at eight of these premises.

Inspector Ian Grout who lead the amnesty, said: “The amnesty has been very  successful and helped to spread the message that  carrying knives in public could lead to being arrested or be dangerous for those who carry them.

“There is very little knife crime in Hertfordshire, but it is important to continue to ensure that knives are not being carried around on the streets and that they are not getting into the hands of minors.

“We will be speaking with the businesses that sold knives to our cadets and will be regularly checking up on all knife outlets to make sure they are observing the law.”

48 bins were deposited in bins in Hatfield, 28 in Stevenage, and six in Watford.