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Police News
From Northern Constabulary
2007 Items
| NORTHERN REVEALS LOW NUMBER OF KNIFE CRIMES AND ALL DETECTED AFTER WEEK ONE OF SAFER SCOTLAND CAMPAIGN NORTHERN Constabulary has underlined its pledge to remain vigilant in relation to knife crime at the end of week one of the Safer Scotland campaign to combat the carrying of offensive weapons. The campaign, spearheaded by Safer Scotlands Violence Reduction Unit, to combat the carrying of knives or offensive weapons was rolled out across Scotland at the beginning of last week. At the time Northern Constabulary said that although knife crime is not as prevalent as it may be in other areas of the country the Force would not be complacent in relation to the carrying or use of knives and other offensive weapons. That promise is underlined with the release of the figures for the first week of the campaign which show that the Force has pro-actively detected more knife crimes than were reported to Police. Across the Force area three knife crimes were reported, however the Force detected four knife crimes during week one. Two knives were taken from the streets and four other offensive weapons were also removed, including items such as baseball bats and metal bars. Police are promising to deal robustly with all those found in possession of knives or other offensive weapons. This is the first in a series of campaigns to try to reduce the number of violent incidents across Scotland. The first phase will focus on knife crime and will run from 1 October to 19 October 2007. Northern Constabulary officers will be using stop and search powers in relation to anyone they suspect may be carrying a knife or offensive weapon. Specially designed knife surrender bins have also been placed at Police stations across the Force area so that people can discard any offensive weapons they find or may have in their homes. Figures for the numbers of knife crimes reported and detected, the number of knives seized and the number of other offensive weapons seized will be made available on a weekly basis throughout the first phase of the campaign. Inspector Gordon MacLeod, the officer co-ordinating the Safer Scotland campaign for Northern Constabulary said: The Force has said from the outset of this campaign that it will not be complacent in relation to the carrying of knives or offensive weapons and these figures underline that promise. The figures from week one show that we are taking a pro-active approach in an attempt to solve the relatively low numbers of crimes involving knives and offensive weapons. We will continue to target those people who may be carrying such weapons using the stop and search powers. Andrew Laing, Area Procurator Fiscal, said: Whilst the numbers of assaults with knives is relatively low compared to other parts of Scotland there are still far too many and we must all play our part in attempting to change the culture in some of our communities where it is thought acceptable to carry a knife. Week One Figures Inverness Ross, Cromarty & Skye Caithness & Sutherland Western Isles Lochaber Badenoch, Strathspey & Nairn Shetland Orkney Force Totals |