Nottinghamshire's Mini Police join knife crime campaign

Nottinghamshire Police’s youngest recruits have issued a rallying call urging people not to carry knives as the force prepares for a busy week of action to crack down on knife crime.
Nottinghamshire Police’s Mini Police have added their young voices to the Operation Sceptre campaign by recording a short videoNottinghamshire Police’s Mini Police have added their young voices to the Operation Sceptre campaign by recording a short video
Nottinghamshire Police’s Mini Police have added their young voices to the Operation Sceptre campaign by recording a short video

Operation Sceptre, which begins on Monday, April 26, is just a snapshot of the ongoing year-round work carried out by Nottinghamshire Police and its partners, standing alongside local communities, to tackle knife crime by bringing together all aspects of education, engagement and enforcement.

Activity during the week will include community weapons sweeps, patrols in knife crime hot-spot areas and proactive operations.

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Nottinghamshire Police’s dedicated knife crime and Operation Reacher teams will also be deployed in support the proactive knife crime work in the city and county and the force’s schools and early intervention officers will be continuing their work by engaging and working with children in schools, encouraging young people to live positive knife-free lives.

Nottinghamshire Police’s Mini Police have added their young voices to the Operation Sceptre campaign by recording a short video.

The force’s successful Mini Police programme, which began in 2018, is exclusively for primary school children aged 9-11 years (academic years 5 and 6).

Since then the Mini Police have been involved in a wide range of educational initiatives and workshops, gaining an insight into policing as well as learning about topics including knife crime and how they can be active members of their community.

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Last year the young officers took part in the Choices and Consequences workshops, run by the National Justice Museum in partnership with the Ben Kinsella Trust, learning about the impact of knife crime.

Assistant Chief Constable Gerard Milano said: “Knives have no place on the streets of Nottinghamshire and we work tirelessly alongside partner agencies to catch offenders and prevent people becoming involved in knife crime in the first place.

"Nottinghamshire Police now has two dedicated specialist knife crime teams, targeting knife crime offenders and working hard to keep communities safe, and has reintroduced schools and early intervention officers who visit schools across Nottinghamshire to talk to young people about issues including knife crime.

“We also use positive, targeted response activity and carry out thorough investigations.

"We are proud to support this national campaign as yet another method of reducing the number of knives that could potentially fall into the wrong hands.”