A city centre sergeant who leads a team that proactively tackles weapons and drugs offences has shared how sustained proactive activity led to a successful month of enforcement in February.
The Operation Compass team, who work from Byron House in Nottingham city centre, seized several bladed weapons in a series of proactive patrols targeting weapons and drugs offences.
Alongside the confiscated weapons, the team also made seven arrests as part of investigations into the incidents associated with the finds.
The weapons range from kitchen knives to what appears to be a reworked arrowhead and mark a bumper month of activity for the team.
Sergeant Paul Whitehead, who leads the Op Compass team, has praised the hard work of the officers who patrol the streets daily to tackle weapons offences.
He said: “The Operation Compass team is committed to ensuring that the city centre is a safe place to live and work.
“Part of our job is to proactively patrol the city centre in order to spot and confront criminal activity with a view to taking appropriate action against offenders.
“In February alone, we confiscated seven knives as a result of these patrols, leading to the arrest of seven people in connection with them.
“Six of those were charged with weapons offences and one of them was released under investigation.
“This action represents just one arm of the types of activity that we undertake in the city centre and it is often very successful.
“We work closely with local residents and partners to gather intelligence and I would ask that anyone who spots suspicious activity to report it to us as soon as possible on 101, or to speak to officers out on patrol.
“By working together, we can continue to clamp down on weapons offences and ensure that criminals understand that we take this matter seriously.”
Sergeant Whitehead also shared the importance of confiscating knives as part of the force’s wider remit to tackle knife crime.
He said: “One incident where someone is injured by a knife is one too many and we all need to make it clear that carrying knives on our streets will not be tolerated.
“By confiscating weapons, we are preventing violent crime from happening. Every time a knife is used in an offence, there is a chance that someone ends up seriously injured, or worse.
“It is therefore really important that we all work together to combat knife crime and we’re urging anyone with information on knife crime in their local community to call Nottinghamshire Police.”
