WATCH police searching Dudley parkland during knife crackdown after stabbing attacks
Police hunted for knives in a Black Country park following a series of stabbings over the last fortnight.
Officers were out in Priory Park in Dudley checking hedges, undergrowth and other potential hideaways for signs of weapons.
It was part of an operation being run across the West Midlands but officers were at the site on the back of three stabbings in the space of eight days in Dudley borough.
West Midlands Police is keen to show it is tough on knife crime and the search of Priory Park follows similar investigations at parks across the Black Country and Birmingham.
A murder probe has been launched after a 24-year-old man was stabbed in Brierley Hill High Street in broad daylight on October 15.
That followed the stabbing of a 22-year-old man in Lower Gornal and an 18-year-old being knifed in the stomach in Sedgley High Street.
Sergeant Adam Austin, who was leading the search in Priory Park, said: "We have been running Operation Sector which is a national initiative focused on tackling and reducing knife crime.
"We have been making sweeps of public spaces looking for weapons which may have been stored anywhere.
"A lot of it is intelligence led but we are also working off hunches and using our own expertise.
"We know public spaces are used regularly by a lot of people."
The force has achieved results searching parks across the West Midlands, having previously unearthed knives, machetes, swords and hammers and know weapons have been discarded in public spaces.
Any weapons found during the operation could be tested for DNA to see if they are linked to any crimes or they will be destroyed.
Sgt Austin said officers would have been out in Dudley regardless of the recent stabbings but said providing the public with confidence that officers are working to try and combat knife crime is important.
He said: "We are here to serve the public and it is important they have trust and confidence in us. We don't want any knives or weapons being kept in our parks."
The crackdown on knife crime also saw officers visit the Merry Hill shopping centre on Wednesday, where a 16-year-old boy was able to buy seven knives.
Superintendent Phil Dolby appealed for calm in the wake of the stabbings as he stressed having three unconnected incidents in such a short space of time as 'exceptional circumstances'.
He said: "My message to the public is that is I don't want anybody to be in fear of living in the great borough of Dudley. I have worked here for more than two years and this borough has a great strong community at the centre of it."
