Nearly 80 knives handed in at Watford last month, police reveal

Nearly 80 knives were handed as part of a knife amnesty in Watford last month, police have revealed. Herts Police took part in the national initiative between October 17th and 23rd. It was part of a campaign being run across the country to reduce the number of illegal knives in circulation. During the amnesty 79 items were deposited in the knife bin at Watford Police Station. The items handed included a meat cleaver and three hunting knives. Other activities carried out during the campaign included the use of a knife detection arch at Watford College. 77 people were also stopped and searched in Watford town centre but no knives were found. Officers also ran a series of test purchase operations in the county, using police cadets who tried to buy knives from 30 retailers in Watford, Hemel Hempstead and Stevenage. The underage cadets managed to buy knives at eight of these premises. Inspector Ian Grout who led the Hertfordshire amnesty said: “The amnesty has been very successful and helped to spread the message that carrying knives in public could lead to being arrested or be dangerous for those who carry them. “There is very little knife crime in Hertfordshire, but it is important to continue to ensure that knives are not being carried around on the streets and that they are not getting into the hands of minors. We will be speaking with the businesses that sold knives to our cadets and will be regularly checking up on all knife outlets to make sure they are observing the law.”