Nine arrests and weapons seized in police shop protection campaign
Nine arrests were made after police carried out stop and searches as part of a national campaign.
Birmingham Police teams joined forces with retailers and partners for the start of the #ShopKind campaign, which is reminding people to be respectful of shop workers.
During the two-day operation police in the city had a special Section 35 dispersal order, meaning officers were able to move on people they believed were contributing to anti-social behaviour or crime.
Sixteen people were dispersed, including a number of suspected shoplifters who officers spotted and told to leave.
Officers carried out 36 stop and searches, with nine people being arrested including three people for theft, two for possession of a knife and one for robbery.
One woman also approached police for advice, telling officers she had some martial arts weapons stored at her home which have recently been made illegal.
Police offered to collect the eight weapons which have now been destroyed.
Sergeant Kriss Willetts, from the Birmingham city centre neighbourhood policing team, said: "We made a number of arrests as well as dispersing more than a dozen people before we believe, they could commit any crime or disorders.
"We were also able to seize 12 weapons, although most were recovered from a woman who didn’t know that keeping martial arts weapons is now against the law."
