Cheshire police made arrests and confiscated weapons in a week-long knife crime operation.
The action was part of the national Operation Scepter, which targeted the impact of knife crime in communities across England and Wales.
Cheshire officials and PCSOs identified and prosecuted suspected knife perpetrators, removed dangerous weapons from the streets and educated people on the dangers of carrying weapons.
A total of 42 arrests were made, 48 knives and another 226 weapons collected from 15 surrender containers across Cheshire.
Officials conducted 56 gun searches, stopped and searched 156 people, and executed nine arrest warrants related to knife crime.
They also called 14 homes to distribute knife crime warnings to people believed to be ordinary knife carriers.
And they visited 46 retailers selling knives to provide advice on product placement and ensure age-restricted sales guidelines were followed.
Bleeding control kits have been distributed to community facilities across the county, including police stations, shops and malls, theaters, pubs, recreation centers, sports clubs, cafes, parks, train stations and community centers.
A number of knives, brass knuckles and a BB pistol were confiscated at the local police force in Crewe and Nantwich after a series of raids at dawn.
They resulted in the arrest of a 20-year-old man and the interrogation of a 40-year-old man on warning after voluntarily visiting a police station.
Thirteen additional bleeding control kits were distributed, including at Crewe train station and other key locations in the city center.
Several knife fights were carried out and knife crime was presented at numerous schools and colleges in and around Crewe.
Chief Inspector Sarah Heath, the Cheshire Constabulary’s chief of knife crime, said, “Knife crime is a growing problem nationally and the week-long Operation Scepter campaign is an initiative that the force is always happy to support.
“We were severely limited in terms of the work we could do during the two weeks of action for Operation Zepter last year, as they fell when the country was in lockdown due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
“Since we are no longer banned and certain restrictions have been relaxed, we had more engagement and enforcement options available to us in the last week of action.
“We grabbed this with both hands to tackle knife crime across Cheshire.
“We have a multi-faceted approach to combating knife crime and we take it very seriously. Officials work day and night to protect the communities.
“We pride ourselves on the fact that Cheshire has lower knife crimes than most other counties in England, with knife crimes committed in the county decreasing by 24 percent from late March 2020 to late March 2021.
“When people carry knives, it is only a matter of time before someone suffers life-changing injuries or is killed, and if you carry a knife the chances of you being involved in a knife crime are much higher.
“As all statistics show, carrying a knife doesn’t make you safer.
“Our goal is to achieve gun-free roads throughout the county and we are working – through education, awareness and action – to make Cheshire an area where no one carries a knife or sees a reason to do so.
“However, the police cannot achieve this goal on their own. Knife crime is a social problem that cannot be solved without the support of society as a whole.
“If you have any information about knife crime or weapon carriers, please let us know.
“If you know someone who carries a knife, reporting it to the police can be enough to save lives.”
To report any type of gun crime, call the Cheshire Constabulary at 101 or 999 in an emergency.
Information can also be found online at https://www.cheshire.police.uk/ro/report. passed on to the police
Anyone who knows someone who carries a knife can report Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111 or via https://crimestoppers-uk.org/give-information/forms/give-information-anonymously
