Hertfordshire supports national knife crime campaign

Hertfordshire Constabulary will conduct a week of action to combat knife crime, between Monday 13 and Sunday 19 May, as part of Sceptre, a national knife crime initiative.

Knife related crime remains lower in Hertfordshire than in other parts of the country, but the campaign aims to reinforce the message that carrying a knife is illegal and will not help to keep you safe.

During the week of action the constabulary will be conducting activities aimed at reducing knife crime, including knife detection sweeps and talking to retailers about making sure knife sales are age checked, as well as educating young people about the dangers of carrying a knife.

Imminent changes to the laws on legal knife ownership mean that certain items that were previously legal to own are now prohibited. From September 2024 it will be illegal to possess, even in a private address, ‘zombie’ knives and machetes. 

During the campaign, anyone with such weapons or any other knives that they do not want or should not have, can be surrendered at one of the following police stations: Hatfield, Stevenage or Watford. There will also be temporary knife bins in locations around the county and there are permanent surrender bins in Waltham Cross, details of which can be found on our amnesty page.

Items can be surrendered anonymously during the amnesty in the knife bins provided, the locations and opening times of these stations can be found here: www.herts.police.uk/stations.

Sergeant Karen Mellor, who is leading on the operational activity for Sceptre, said: “These initiatives offer an opportunity to reduce the number of knives in circulation and anyone in possession of weapons prohibited under the new laws will be able to surrender them anonymously.

“Regular weeks of action are part of our continuing strategy to tackle violent crime. During the week we will be conducting operations across the county, to reduce knife-related crime and to raise awareness that it is illegal to carry a knife in public without a valid reason and may lead to arrest.

“It is also a chance to talk with young people in person and online about the dangers of carrying a knife, and also raise awareness amongst local businesses that selling certain knives to anyone under 18 is illegal.”

Follow our week of action online at @HertsPolice on Facebook, X, Instagram and TikTok.