Knife Crime Operation

Hello Resident, 

Despite North Yorkshire having some of the lowest knife crime rates in the country, we regularly take knives off our streets and arrest people who carry them. 

And this week we're intensifying those efforts as part of Operation Sceptre - a push to reduce knife crime across the country.  

We've made dozens of arrests specifically for knife offences under this operation in the past, so we're confident this week will make an impact. 

The things we're doing include... 

- Even more deployments to areas in the county where knife crime has been detected, with additional patrols and searches of suspects. 

- Educational work including school visits and intervention with young people, to make them think about the consequences of carrying a knife.  

- Special operations to target people with weapons and those involved in organised crime. 

- Working with other police forces to develop more and more intelligence about people who enter North Yorkshire from other areas with weapons. 

- Promoting the 20 secure, permanent knife bins which have now been rolled out in easy-to-access locations across North Yorkshire…. thousands of knives have been deposited in these in the past year. Check out our website to find your nearest bin. 

- We've just set up additional, temporary knife amnesty bins at police stations in Scarborough, until Sunday. This is in addition to the knife bins at William Street Coach Park and Friars Gardens Car Park, so people can surrender blades with no questions asked. 

Some knives are legal to possess but illegal to carry in public without a lawful purpose. 

Others are classed as offensive weapons which are illegal to possess, even if kept at home. 

But both can be surrendered at the knife bins or your local police station – you won’t get into trouble for transporting them there and you will not face prosecution. If you have any concerns or want your knives picking up from your home address, please email nathan.stuart@northyorkshire.police.uk  

We’re working round the clock to prevent knife crime and knife carrying… Help us get as many blades as possible out of circulation by dropping them off at your local knife bin or police station this week.