#STOPKNIFECRIME is the central message of a national week of action supported by Safer Gloucestershire.

There are 32 areas involved in this week’s Operation Sceptre, which runs until Sunday.

Gloucestershire, like many other parts of the country, has seen an increase in knife crime in recent years and this week’s activity is just one idea to tackle the issue across the county.

Searches by specialist officers of Gloucester Park, Bank Gardens in Stroud and Sandford Park in Cheltenham took place on Wednesday, February 14.

Those who own knives are known to regularly hide them in public areas such as parks.

Educational and diversionary work with young people has taken place as part of several activities under the Aston Project and Great Expectations schemes,

These early intervention projects are co-funded by the Police and Crime Commissioner, while a test purchase operation has also been run to help ensure shops aren’t selling knives to children, which is an offence under the Criminal Justice Act.

The test purchase operations involved teenage volunteers visiting shops in Stroud, Gloucester, and Cheltenham, under police supervision, to check that retailers aren’t selling knives to underage customers.

Nearly 30 retailers were visited in total, with two shops in Stroud, two in Cheltenham and two in Gloucester failing.

In those cases strict words of advice were given to the staff members involved as the first step in ensuring they take appropriate measures in future.

Officers singled out workers in Go Outdoors in Gloucester as an example of good practice.

They made sure the test purchasers’ identification was requested and then explained clearly why they couldn’t be served.

Chief Inspector Emma Davies believes tackling knife crime is very important

“This week of action is intended to focus minds on the issue of knife crime but I can reassure people we are already tackling it and are committed to tackling it in the long term,” said Ms Davies.

“Our staff members, including Special Constables, licensing teams, neighbourhood officers and specialist units have done some sterling work this week.

“We have been taking a whole range of action to combat knife crime, both in the immediate sense with enforcement like the gang injunctions we put in place this week, but also in the long term sense, speaking to those at risk of carrying knives at a young age and diverting them away from it.

“Our work continues, with more activities planned this weekend and going far beyond.”

Deputy Police and Crime Commissioner Chris Brierley takes the lead on the work around violence prevention for the PCC.

He said: “There is so much good work going in within Gloucestershire to tackle the wicked issue of violent crime.

“Sadly, across the country violent crime is on the rise, the government and others have now thankfully recognised it’s not just an issue for the police.

"In fact Public Health England is leading a lot of work around violence prevention and I think that is key in helping to address this problem.

“We are not simply going to be able to arrest our way out of something which is a societal problem that needs society as a whole to tackle it.

“I am pleased therefore that through the county’s new community safety body – Safer Gloucestershire we have key partners around the table looking at how collectively we can prevent, protect and enforce measures to deal with violence on our streets.

“Hopefully with a more joined up approach we will make people be and feel safer.”