Communities urged to talk about knife crime during week of action

This week, officers are taking part in a national week of action to demonstrate the work they do behind the scenes to tackle knife crime and are now asking for the public's help to share the message by talking to those they feel are most at risk from knife crime.

From today until Sunday, March 17, police will be carrying out stop searches, open land searches and weapon sweeps.

Officers will also be patrolling with knife arches and wands at key times at busy locations.

Inspector Andy Creer said: "A lot of work goes on behind the scenes to address the issue of knife crime and what can be done about it but one of the most important tools we have is education. Most people probably don’t realise that carrying a knife can make a young person up to 60% more likely to become a victim of knife crime themselves.

"Nobody wants to be a statistic and I want to appeal directly to parents and guardians - talk to your children about knife crime, educate them of the dangers and help us to make it socially unacceptable for ANYONE to carry a knife when they go out.

"Anyone who chooses to pick up a knife could be throwing away their lives and destroying the lives of others.

"Merseyside has seen at first hand the tragedy of knife crime and the effect it can have on the victims, the knife crime offenders and the families left behind.

"Nobody wants that knock on the door from the police so please, have that conversation with your loved ones.

"I want to reassure our communities that we will continue our work day in and day out and we are committed to getting rid of the problem of knife crime by working closely with our partners to help prevent and disrupt criminal activity.

"We will also continue to act on information reported to us through local policing teams or community leaders.

"But this is not a problem that Merseyside Police can tackle alone and we need everyone to be involved.

"If you know someone is carrying a knife then speak to us or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111 and help us to finally stamp out this problem.”

Officers will also meet with local authorities, schools, probation, charities and medical practitioners to share ideas and intelligence.

During this week Merseyside Police social media accounts will be updated using #StopKnifeCrime and they will be hosting a Twitter Q&A between 6pm and 7pm on Wednesday, March 13 via @MerseyPolice.

For more advice and information about knife crime go to www.knifefree.co.uk