West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner Simon Foster says a ‘huge number’ of knives and other dangerous objects have been placed into his weapon surrender bins.
It’s after more than eleven hundred weapons were retrieved from the bins in the last 6 months.
1,108 knives, machetes and guns were placed into Simon Foster’s 24 safe and secure containers that are strategically located across the region.
The bins have been installed across the Black Country, Birmingham and Coventry.
All of the weapons will be carefully destroyed.
The weapon surrender bins are designed to provide somewhere for people to anonymously dispose of unwanted or illegal weapons, including knives, machetes and guns.
Violent crime has catastrophic and devastating consequences for people, families and communities.
Weapon surrender bins are just one of the many measures the PCC, together with the Violence Reduction Partnership, has put in place to prevent and tackle knife crime in our area.
Simon Foster also invests in a programme in schools which has so far educated more than 50,000 young people on the dangers of knives, a scheme in A and E Units to untangle young people from a life of violence and mentoring classes for children who it is thought could be drawn into crime.
“It is pleasing to see a huge number of knives and other weapons being dropped into my weapon surrender bins”, said the West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner, Simon Foster.
“Hundreds of dangerous knives are being taken off the streets thanks to the network of secure metal containers that I have installed and every single one is potentially a life saved.
“I am also committed to continuing to invest in other preventative programmes, that are designed to stop violence in its tracks by intervening early and addressing the underlying causes. West Midlands Police is also working around the clock to ensure offenders are brought to justice swiftly.”
