Police on Tyneside seized an average of five bladed weapons a day in 2022, the highest number in the past five years.
A total of 1860 knives or bladed articles were seized by Northumbria Police last year, an increase of almost 200 when compared to 2021.
As part of our Stop Knives Taking Lives campaign the Chronicle obtained figures under the Freedom of Information act to help show the true picture of blades on our streets.
Here are the number of bladed articles seized over the past five years:
- 2018: 1593
- 2019: 1616
- 2020: 1609
- 2021: 1662
- 2022: 1860
In 2022 Tyneside was rocked by a string of horrific fatal stabbings, including the unconnected deaths of 14-year-olds Tomasz Oleszak and Gordon Gault
Northumbria Police's lead on knife crime and serious violence, Chief Supt Helena Barron, said the number of blades seized shows that police are working hard to take potentially lethal weapons off our streets.
Chief Supt Barron said: “Sadly, we know all-too well that knives can destroy lives, and our thoughts remain with all those families who have experienced that tragic loss.
“No-one should ever think carrying a knife or a weapon is acceptable and we will continue to spread that message, far and wide, and call on our communities to do the same.
"As a force, tackling serious violence is a priority and we are working day-in day-out to reduce offending, take weapons out of circulation and help educate people about the dangers of carrying weapons.
“These figures show just how proactive we are when it comes to recovering and safely destroying knives.
“However, this only represents a fraction of the work going on throughout the year to ensure our communities are kept safe.
“As well as officers regularly carrying out searches and acting on information supplied by the community, we work with a host of partners from the Violence Reduction Unit, to local authorities, as well as the criminal justice system to ensure a joined-up approach to tackling this type of offending."
The Chronicle launched its Stop Knives Taking Lives campaign in February. Backed by police, politicians and victims’ families, we are calling on everyone in the North East to come together to help tackle knife crime.
And Chief Supt Barron said members of the public are working with police to help tackle knife violence.
“Last week, we also took part in Operation Sceptre – a national week of action to tackle knife crime – and saw some great results, including many members of the public safely disposing of their unwanted knives and blades into our secure surrender bins," she said.
“That cooperation and awareness shows just how serious the community take this issue, and we will continue to do all we can to tackle knife crime.”
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