Robbers who threaten victims with weapons are being targeted across West Yorkshire as part of a national initiative to reduce knife crime.
West Yorkshire Police is joining forces across the country for the week long Operation Sceptre campaign to target those who carry knives and educate people about the dangers of carrying them.
Sceptre will run from 11 November to 17 November and will see officers from the force’s specialist Operation Jemlock team join colleagues in a wide range of activities.
They are intended to target offenders who carry knives, as well as supporting educational and early intervention initiatives.
Across West Yorkshire, officers will be out targeting those wanted for robbery offences and taking part in high visibility patrols in areas designated as ‘hot spots’ for knife offending.
This week will also coincide with the launch of Spotlight patrols in city and town centres.
These will run throughout November and December and this time with a focus on identifying those looking to commit knife enabled robbery.
Spotlight operates through a combination of plain clothes and uniformed officers patrolling together to detect and prevent potential offending from occurring.
Under Spotlight plain clothes officers enter identified hotspots, such as a busy street for nightlife to patrol and be on the lookout for potential criminal activity. The uniformed officers will then engage with persons flagged to them.
This is to create an unpredictable environment for offenders and increase the likelihood of them being caught. Whilst creating a safe and friendly environment for the public.
Aside from Spotlight, Neighbourhood Policing Teams across the county will be delivering a host of engagement and crime prevention work which will include knife sweeps in areas where criminals have in the past hidden bladed items.
The deployment of knife detection equipment at a number of transport hubs and knife crime prevention inputs in schools across the region will supplement what is already a massive programme of ongoing educational work.
Police operations to reduce knife offending continue to be supported by partners, including the West Yorkshire Violence Reduction Partnership (VRP), which is delivered by the Mayor of West Yorkshire, Tracy Brabin.
Established in 2019, it provides key interventions across communities to reduce and prevent violent offending.
In the past year (2023/2024), it has reached almost 25,000 young people aged under 24, and more than 800 people aged 25 and above. Also, it has trained nearly 400 professionals.
Chief Inspector James Kitchen head of West Yorkshire Police’s Operation Jemlock said, “Operation Sceptre is a significant week in policing nationally and we, along with partner forces, will be concentrating resources and activity on knife and violent crime.
“Those who think it is acceptable to threaten children with a knife to steal money, mobile phones or personal property will be our key focus, and plans are in place to locate and lock up those seeking to commit these offences in our communities.
“Mixed plain clothes and uniformed Spotlight patrols will be ongoing in places identified as ‘hotspot’ areas for this type of offending, ensuring we have officers in the right locations at the right times to increase the likelihood of catching offenders in the act.
“Spotlight patrols aim to make hostile environments for offenders, with offenders never knowing who they might be about to target, it might just be one of our officers. It’s about intervening early to reduce the opportunity for these offenders to commit crimes whilst protecting members of pubic and allowing us to identify and target those who are causing harm.
“The Spotlight patrols will complement other planned ongoing activity including arrest warrants, knife sweeps and our knife prevention work with young people.”
He added: “Reducing knife crime remains a priority for the force month in and month out.
“The Jemlock Team has made over 11,700 arrests since it was formed in 2019 and has seized more than 530 weapons so far in 2024 including knives, machetes and knuckle dusters.”
Director of the West Yorkshire Violence Reduction Partnership (VRP), Detective Chief Superintendent Lee Berry said: “A key element of the Op Sceptre approach is ensuring education and outreach, preventing knife crime from occurring in the first place.
“This is where the Violence Reduction Partnership plays such a pivotal role, complementing the enforcement work of the police through community interventions and innovation.
“Our investment in immersive anti-knife crime learning for young people using virtual reality is just one example of how we are helping to change attitudes and behaviours on these crucially important issues.”
