Two schoolchildren found with knives during police crackdown

Between September 22 and December 31 last year, 52 knives were either seized, found or handed into police, along with 27 firearms. 

Two children were also found on school premises with knives. 

They were referred to the youth offending team and the two blades were confiscated by officers.

During the same period, officers stopped and searched 251 people, of which nearly a quarter were found to be committing an offence.

Thirty-six people were specifically stopped on suspicion of carrying a knife and six knives were found as a result.

Chief Supt Steve Chapman, Rotherham district commander, said Operation Alligator had been launched to address problems in neighbourhoods, including knife crime and drugs offences.

“A lot of the work we have been doing is about reducing demand in key locations,” he said.

“Operation Alligator is a long-running project and it is building on a daily basis.”

Police also identified 25 “habitual” knife carriers and half of them were arrested, mainly for offences against other people. 

They also referred 14 young people to group sessions on knife crime.

Officers from the Rotherham Central Neighbourhood Policing Team have shared a picture on Twitter of a meat cleaver they had found (pictured).

Officers have also visited eight Rotherham schools to talk about knife crime and all secondary school parents have been sent a letter about the force’s knife amnesty — which led to knives being handed into police.

A video showing some of Rotherham Central Neighbourhood Policing Team’s work in 2018 has been shared online (below).