Officers on Anglesey are calling on people across the Island to give up their potentially lethal weapons in a drive to educate people about the dangers of knives.
The three-month long campaign will involve a knife amnesty, enforcement operations and education.
The month-long amnesty will begin on January 1st where people can bring their unwanted knives to any of the Island’s police stations.
Following the amnesty police will be carrying out enforcement operations and will be working closely with their partners and licensees. The last part of the campaign will involve education – where officers will be out and about visiting schools and youth clubs talking to youngsters about the consequences of knife crime.
“This is the second such amnesty we’ve held on Anglesey,” said Neighbourhood Policing Sergeant, Andrew McGregor.
“Although we know knife crime is low on the Island we know there are public concerns. This particular campaign is aimed at educating people about the consequences of carrying knives and it includes a number of different strands -including a presentation to youngsters, community engagement work and working closely with licenses to ensure knives are not taken into licensed premises.
He added: “Carrying a knife is not acceptable and it does not keep you safe, it is an offence and you are actually putting yourself in danger of your weapon being used against you.
“Running such a campaign will allow us to remove knives from circulation, further reducing the risk to the public.”
Red disposal bins are located at Holyhead and Llangefni police stations; however people can also take their unwanted knives to other stations in Menai Bridge, Gaerwen, Benllech, Valley and Amlwch.
Sergeant McGregor added: “We had excellent public support during the last campaign and we very much hope the public will support us again this year.”
Over the past few months lots of work has been undertaken in the local schools whereby hundreds of pupils have sign a pledge never to carry a knife.
The ‘Dump a Knife, Save a Life’ campaign, which was set up by Dave Hughes of Holyhead following the murder of 21-year-old Leon Jones in Holyhead in November 2009 involved officers going out to schools to educate pupils about the dangers of knife crime. Mr Hughes said: “We would like to thank all those who took advantage of the last knife amnesty, however we are asking for your support once again.
“Leon’s family have taken comfort from the campaign, let’s not Leon’s death be in vain.”
The amnesty has the full support of the Divisional Commander for Western Division, Chief Superintendent Mark Jones. He said: “Despite incidents of knife crime on Anglesey being low, the community tells us that their concern about knives remains, so – quite rightly – they remain a priority for us too.
“This latest approach has developed by working with the local communities, and we all consider that a coordinated campaign of education, enforcement and the amnesty, will positively contribute to our collective aim of making Anglesey safer. I encourage the public to continue working with us in this initiative and to take full advantage of the amnesty by removing all potentially lethal weapons from circulation.”
If you know of somebody carrying a knife report it to North Wales Police on 101 or in an emergency always dial 999. Alternatively contact Crimestoppers Wales anonymously on 0800 555 111 or give information via their anonymous online form – www.crimestoppers-uk.org
