Dozens of arrests and weapons seized as part of Op Sceptre

South Yorkshire’s week-long Operation Sceptre launched on Tuesday in the region and nationwide.

Officers have been manning engagement stalls, taking part in open land searches, carrying out high-visibility policing operations and taking knife arches to different locations.

Warrants have also been executed and test purchase operations have been taking place.

During the test purchase operations, young people (normally police cadets in plain clothes) go into stores and attempt to buy knives. Some premises have failed the test purchases and received either written or oral warnings.

Police in Eastwood, along with Trading Standards, also removed four imitation firearms from a shop under section 36 of the Violent Crime Reduction Act 2006. 

Doncaster police executed a warrant yesterday (Thursday) and recovered 12 knives that are suspected of being illegally imported as well as two batons.

A knife (pictured below) was also found by police today in bushes on Sandygate, Wath.

Det Supt Una Jennings, force lead for armed criminality, said: “We’ve already seen some fantastic results from our teams across South Yorkshire and a number of dangerous weapons have been taken off our streets.

“In addition to the knives recovered and seized, we’ve seized other dangerous items that have either been found during our open land searches or during warrants — items that could be used to cause harm or injury to another.

“Fourteen people have been arrested for knife-related offences and as a result of our proactive focus in support of Operation Sceptre, we’ve also arrested a further ten people for a range of offences across the force over the last few days.

“Our commitment to protecting our communities in support of Operation Sceptre shows no sign of slowing as we move into the weekend. We will have a number of high visibility policing operations within our city and town centres, as well as knife arches, as people head out to enjoy their weekend.

“Anyone carrying a knife can expect a robust response and swift action — there is no excuse to be carrying a weapon on our streets.”

You can see what officers have been up to on social media by searching the hashtags #OpSceptre, #DropTheKnife and #StopKnifeCrime.