Carrying a knife? It could mean a sentence
Thursday, 9th July 2009
Central Scotland Police are clamping down on those who are determined to carry or use knives. An initiative tackling these issues was launched at the end of May.
There have been a number of incidents since the start of the year where knives have been used in crime. Analysts have looked at the issue of knife use including locations and perpetrator profiles.
Our message is simple - carrying a knife in the Central Scotland Police area is not acceptable.
Recent research has shown that it is predominantly young men aged 14-22 who are more likely to carry and use knives. As a result we are searching those who fall into this bracket as a matter of routine.
Officers across Forth Valley are also targeting hot spot areas and offenders suspected to have been involved in the carrying of knives. There will also be an increase in the number of searches carried out in an effort to remove knives from circulation and further protect the communities of Central Scotland.
We are adopting this robust approach in an effort to ensure our communities are as safe as they can be and reduce the number of people who could potentially become a victim of a crime where a knife is involved.
During the first month, nearly 1000 searches have been carried out with twelve positive searches. All those caught have been reported. The offenders were aged from 17 to 47 years old.
The response from the public, and those being searched, has been extremely positive.
The force also carried out a joint operation with British Transport Police when they carried out a knife search at Polmont railway station a few weeks ago.
In an effort to get our message to as many people as possible we have signed up to an advertising campaign on buses. This mean anyone travelling by bus in our area will get the message "Carrying a knife? Your next stop could be the police station." on the back of their bus tickets until the end of August.
We have also in partnership with Galaxy FM which will feature a hard-hitting advert and local people's views on knife crime.
Crimestoppers are also working with the force we will be using Bluetooth text messaging technology to target those travelling into specific areas. This means if you come into an area where we are using this technology you could get a text from us.
Statistics also show if you carry a knife you are more likely to be stabbed and we want to ensure that nobody ends up in that situation.
Carrying a knife could mean the end of your own life and that could mean a criminal record and the end of possible job prospects - or to the other extreme it could mean severe injury or death.
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