Knife amnesty: Where to hand in knives in Hertfordshire

Hertfordshire Constabulary will conduct a week of action to combat knife crime between Monday, November 11 and Sunday, November 17 as part of Sceptre, a national knife crime initiative.

According to police, knife related crime "remains low in Hertfordshire", compared to 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.

As part of the initiative, the constabulary will be conducting activities aimed at reducing knife crime.

These include knife sweeps and talking to retailers to ensure knives are not sold to those under 18 years of age, as well as educating young people about the dangers of carrying a knife.

Knife amnesty in Hertfordshire (Image: Hertfordshire Constabulary)

Sergeant Karen Mellor, who is leading on the operational activity for Sceptre, said: “Knife crime remains low in the county but we regularly run these weeks of action, along with our policing partners across the country as part of a continuing effort to drive down knife crime.

“Whilst we work every day to tackle knife crime, Sceptre weeks gives us the chance to hold amnesties to reduce the number of knives in circulation. This provides another chance for those in possession of recently banned zombie knives to surrender them anonymously.

“It’s also a great opportunity to raise awareness of the dangers of carrying knives, in particular that carrying a knife in public is illegal and could result in arrest.”

Only last month, officers from the Operation Scorpion team in Watford seized drugs and a zombie knife from an address in Cherry Tree Road on Halloween (Thursday, October 31).

A seized zombie knife (Image: Hertfordshire Constabulary)

Knife amnesty - where to hand in knives

During the week-long campaign, any knives in your possession that you do not want or should not have, can be surrendered at one of Hatfield, Stevenage or Watford police stations.

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 at www.herts.police.uk/amnesty.

Items can be surrendered anonymously during the amnesty in the knife bins provided, including recently banned zombie knives and machetes.

The locations and opening times of the police stations can be found at www.herts.police.uk/stations.

If you are concerned or have information about someone carrying knives or are aware of anyone involved in knife crime, you can report this by calling the Herts Police non-emergency number 101.

You can also report information online at herts.police.uk/report or speak to an operator via online web chat at herts.police.uk/contact.

Alternatively, you can stay anonymous by contacting the independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 or via their untraceable online form at crimestoppers-uk.org.

If you would like further information on support services relating to knife crime contact Fearless.org.