The number of weapons being seized by police in schools in the Bristol region has dropped by more than two thirds in the space of a year.
In 2019, Avon and Somerset Police seized 24 items in schools in Bristol, South Gloucestershire and North Somerset - but this dropped to six last year.
The force was called to five reports of having an article with a blade or point on school premises in the region, compared to 41 reports in 2019 - which is a reduction of 87 per cent.
They also responded to one call-out of possession of an offensive weapon on school premises without lawful authority or reasonable excuse.
The figures, obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request by Bristol Live, have been described as "pleasing" by knife prevention charity the Ben Kinsella Trust.
The charity's CEO Patrick Green said: “It is pleasing to see such a big drop in such a short period of time.
"While six incidents of knife carrying in schools is still six too many, schools are clearly doing far more to tackle this issue, and they should be applauded for this.
"However, we cannot rule out that school closures due to lockdowns may have contributed to this decrease.
"We will have to wait for another 12 months to know for certain whether this downward trend will continue.”
In total, police seized six items:
- One handle knife
- Two large kitchen knives
- Two lock knives
- One Stanley knife
Last year, Avon and Somerset Police worked with young people from four schools across the force area in order to better understand why they might carry knives and what support they may want from police, among others.
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At the time, neighbourhood sergeant for the Bournville area of Weston Colin Batchelor said: “After months of hard work by the students, and the frustration of having to put the project on hold due to the pandemic, it’s brilliant to see this campaign come together.
“The key element of this project is that it has young people’s opinions at the heart of it. We know that police telling young people not to carry knives is not the solution, and police enforcement alone will never be enough to resolve this complex issue.
“By listening to young people’s voices and engaging them in a creative process to produce campaigns which mean something to them and their peers, we hope that they can feel empowered and less fearful."
