KEEPTHE KNIVES OFFOUR STREETS
A man has been arrested for allegedly brandishing a machete in a Wishaw street.
Officers were quickly on the scene in Flaxmill Avenue where it’s claimed the 37-year-old was also acting in a threatening manner.
As a result of other recent incidents involving dangerous weapons they had stepped up their visible presence in Craigneuk and the surrounding areas.
Wishaw and Shotts’ Area Inspector, Alan Mulholland said: “Police officers
will continue to target knife crime by using specific legislation available to them where they believe someone is in position of an offensive weapon such as a knife.”
The extra patrols come as two youth organisations have announced they are joining forces to keep blades off local streets.
With many people claiming they are scared of reprisals. or being labelled a “grass”, a new campaign has been launched that will allow youngsters to report those carrying knives, and remain completely anonymous.
Fearless.org and the No Knives Better Lives programme, run by YouthLink Scotland, have started the hard-hitting digital campaign which will also use the real-life stories of three young people affected by knife crime.
Fearless.org is the youth programme of independent charity Crimestoppers.
Nine out of 10 of those caught with offensive weapons in Scotland are on average under 30 years old and male.
Lyndsay McDade, National Youth Projects Coordinator for the charity Crimestoppers Scotland, said: “In our experience, young people want to do the right thing and speak up, but they’re often worried about being labelled a grass or physical reprisals.
“We’re urging young people to continue to tell our charity who they know or suspect regularly carries a knife or other weapons.
“It only takes two minutes to complete our simple anonymous online form at fearless.org.”
Area Inspector Alan Mulholland also encouraged young people to come forward with information, adding: “We promote the great work of ‘Fearless’ and ‘No Knives Better Lives’ to educate on the devastating impact knife crime can have on the person and the families of anyone involved.
“The ripple effect it has throughout a whole community is tragic and we are determined to make an impact on anyone thinking about carrying a knife and, more importantly, we will continue our efforts to take knives off anyone carrying one.
“There is no excuse for carrying a weapon, whether for self-protection or not and we have a priority to everyone to stop it.”
The new campaign, which is being supported by the Scottish Government, comes just days after it was revealed that more than half of police would like access to handguns to help deal with violent crime.
Orielle Taylor, Senior Development O f f i c e r a t Yo u t h L i n k S c o t l a n d , said: “We are hoping to emphasise to young people that they have even more avenues for reporting when they know someone is carrying a knife.”
Lyndsay McDade added: “We can’t trace IP addresses or any contact details that could identify you. Nobody will ever know the information came from you.
“Please don’t wait until someone gets badly hurt or killed before speaking up to our charity and telling us what you know 100 per cent anonymously.”
Anyone with information on anyone carrying knives or other weapons can call the Police direct on 101 or 999, or Crimestoppers on 0800 555111 anonymously.
Young people can use the new reporting tool at: www.fearless.org