Police appeal after rise in knife crimes
POLICE have reiterated a call for residents to come forward with information about anyone carrying blades after a rise in knife crime incidents in Runcorn.
As previously reported by the Weekly News, there were 184 incidents involving blades in the 12 months to November 2017 ranging from possession and threats to robberies and serious assaults with lifechanging injuries.
A Cheshire police spokesman said no-one was killed but an officer averted death in one instance in which the attack had severed an artery in a man’s leg.
Runcorn Local Policing Unit’s Operation Abolish has been running since the start of the year, blitzing areas where blades are suspected to be more frequently carried. A ‘ heat map’ method of plotting hot zones of knife posses- sion result in 56 finds of either drugs or a weapon among 85 individuals stopped, a hit rate of 66%.
Officers are also looking to tackle the causes of carrying blades and have been working with organisations such as Halton Trading Standards to encourage traders to apply the ‘Challenge 25’ standard for asking for identification from anyone who looks under 25 years of age.
An education package has been designed to be delivered to schools in the area to educate young people about the dangers and consequences of carrying a knife.
Runcorn Police Station was also one of the sites where people could hand in knives as part of a nationwide operation trying to get people to stop carrying knives in February, which saw 50 knives handed in across the county.
Residents have also been encouraged to report information anonymously via Crimestoppers online or by telephone.
Chief Inspector Sarah Heath, of Runcorn LPU, said: “Cheshire as a whole doesn’t have a huge problem with knife crime but we are starting to see an uplift in incidents in Runcorn and we want to tackle the issue before it gets worse.
“If you carry a knife then you are much more likely to be involved in a knife crime incident.
“We want to persuade people that carrying a knife is dangerous and unnecessary because we can’t arrest our way out of this problem. Knives are easily available so we need to change attitudes towards them. Carrying a knife doesn’t make you safer, and could land you in prison. It isn’t worth it.”
Sergeant Chris Maddocks, who is leading the knife crime campaign in Runcorn, said: “We want to encourage people to report people carrying knives so we can get more off the streets and make Runcorn a safer place.”
You can contact Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111, or Cheshire police on 101.” ●