Revealed: 340 deadly blades off West Midlands streets in police campaign
West Midlands Police has seized 340 blades as part of its latest blitz against knife crime.
The weapons were dumped in 13 knife bins across the region, including four sites in Wolverhampton and one each in Dudley, Sandwell and Walsall.
Surrender bins have been rolled out across the West Midlands as part of the force's efforts to tackle the region's knife crime epidemic, which has seen knife crime rocket by 85 per cent since 2012.
The parents of murdered James Brindley helped unveil Walsall’s first knife surrender bin in February.
James, aged 26, was stabbed in the heart 400 metres from his parents’ home in Aldridge, in June 2017.
His killer, 17-year-old Ammar Kahrod, was sentenced to 17 years in prison for the random attack.
His parents, Mark and Beverley Brindley, joined the West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner David Jamieson to unveil the bin, which is at Tesco on Littleton Street West.
Assistant police and crime commissioner, Ashley Bertie said: “In recent weeks and months we have seen a number of shocking incidents involving knives, some of which have led to the loss of life.
“I am committed to working with the chief constable to get knives off the streets and keep our communities safe.
“These bins are just one of the measures we are taking to tackle violence. They continue to prove a success. That is why we are rolling them out across the region.
"The bins are providing people with a legal and safe way to dispose of knives which they shouldn't be carrying. Every knife deposited into these bins is another knife that can no longer cause harm to somebody.
“If you have a knife or any weapon, or know somebody who does, I strongly recommend that you dispose of it in one of these bins.”
The force has pledged to install more bins in the coming months.
West Midlands Police’s knife crime lead Superintendent Phil Dolby said: “Knife crime and violence is not an issue we can tackle on our own. We need help from partners, parents, schools and the wider community to tackle this growing issue.
“We all need to be having heart-to-heart conversations with young people in an attempt to steer them away from knives - a death at the hands of a knife is such a waste of life.
“The message that carrying weapons is unacceptable and won’t be tolerated needs to be more firmly reinforced amongst our young people and we all have a role to play in that.
“We’re doing all we can to tackle knife crime, we’re using stop and search powers to target those who carry knives, seizing weapons and working with young people to talk about the dangers of carrying weapons.
"Our intensive investigations ruthlessly pursue those who wish to cause this harm among our communities. And we’ll do all we can to bring offenders to justice."
