Response officers bravely disarmed a man brandishing a knife and threatening to cause harm to children inside a property.
Officers were called to an address in the Daybrook area just before 10pm on Monday 31 March over concerns for a man’s welfare.
On arrival, the man, in his 20s, was in the kitchen area, threatening to cause harm to himself, the officers, and two children inside the address.
Officers tried to negotiate with the man, but he refused to drop the knife.
The man then shouted numerous threats at officers that he was “going to kill police if they don’t leave the address.”
Officers tried to calmly speak to the man, calling for him to drop the knife, while other officers rescued the children from an upstairs bedroom.
When he lunged forward with the knife, they used PAVA spray, but when that was ineffective, they had to continue to use negotiation skills to calm him down and ensure the situation didn’t escalate further.
He finally agreed to hand over the knife and speak to officers.
He was subsequently arrested for a number of offences, including threats to kill, possession of an offensive weapon in a private place and affray.
Safeguarding measures have also been put in place.
PC Daniel Howard, who was one of the officers who attended the scene, said:
“When I arrived at the scene, I was told that the man was suffering with his mental health.
“I shouted through to the kitchen at him to ask him to come to the living room without a knife in his hands to which he refused.
“He was very verbally aggressive and threatened to kill myself and my colleague.
“Due to these threats, I drew my PAVA spray and told him that he needed to leave the knife on the table and walk towards police.
“He refused, so he was sprayed. However, this wasn’t very effective.
“He continued to threaten to stab police officers and himself for roughly 15 more minutes until he agreed to come out of the kitchen and be arrested without force being used.”
Chief Inspector Paul Hennessy, responsible for county response, said:
“This was a volatile standoff with a man brandishing a knife at police and threatening to harm children at the address.
“His agitated and unpredictable state and willingness to brandish weapons showed clear risk where serious harm could happen at any time. I believe had officers not attended when they did so, serious harm would have been likely.
“This is the type of work our response officers do every day to keep the public safe and I think if it wasn’t for the incredible bravery and actions of the officers involved, we could be looking at a very different outcome today.”
