Police carry out knife sweeps in St Leonards as part of Operation Sceptre

Operation Sceptre was launched nationally on Monday (April 26) and aims to raise awareness of the dangers of carrying knives.

On Tuesday, police carried out knife sweeps in St Leonards where officers found a kitchen knife. A spokesman said the knife was ‘safely disposed of’.

Later the same day, officers also attended Robertsbridge Community College where they worked alongside school staff and members of the #KnowKnives team to ‘engage and educate’ students about the risks and potential consequences of carrying a knife.

Superintendent Stu Hale said: “Reducing knife crime and knife possession is a key priority for Sussex Police and we are determined to take harmful items off our streets.

“Operation Sceptre is an opportunity to have vital conversations with the public around knife crime. Our message is clear: carrying a knife is dangerous and does not make you safer, it puts you at more risk of coming to harm.

“As part of our week of action we’re carrying out educational activities, amnesty and targeted operations to raise awareness among at-risk groups and disrupt crime in action.

“This week intensifies our year-round tactics to address knife crime by engaging with young people in schools, using our knife crime engagement van and our work with partners to ensure people are signposted to help at an early opportunity.

“We also work hard to target disrupt prolific offenders, through teams such as the Special Enforcement Unit, Tactical Enforcement Unit through days of action.”

To tell Sussex Police about knife crime please report online or call 101. In an emergency always dial 999.