Ban deadly blades: Police chief backs E&S campaign to outlaw knife sales
It has been backed by MPs, councillors and thousands of members of the public – now West Midlands Police chief constable Dave Thompson is supporting an Express & Star campaign for a review on the sale of knives.
Mr Thompson outlined knife crime as his top priority earlier this year as the number of stabbings in the region continues to rise.
They include the death of 15-year-old Keelan Wilson last month.
This newspaper, after uncovering the sale of lethal knives at shops in the Black Country, is calling on Home Secretary Sajid Javid to review legislation regarding the sale of knives, swords and other weapons.
An online petition has almost 5,000 supporters.
And on Wednesday, Mr Thompson posted a link to the petition on his Twitter profile.
He joins the likes of Wolverhampton MPs Pat McFadden, Emma Reynolds and Eleanor Smith to back the campaign.
Mr Thompson’s support comes as new Government figures reveal there were 1,314 instances of knife and gun possessions in the area, resulting in a sentence or conviction, from January to March.
This has risen from 1,307 from October to December, 1,307 July to September, and 1,274 April to June last year.
In Staffordshire, the number of people punished for knife possession was 386 between January to March.
In February, Mr Thompson spoke to the Express & Star about a rise in weapon possession offences across the force area.
He said of the situation: “I think we need to take steps to change people’s behaviour and attitude.
“Young people are carrying them because they are in fear of their safety and actually what we need to do is ensure there is mobilisation of a prevention message.
“I think young people are unaware of the dangers of knife crime.”
