Eight ‘potential weapons’ including knives were recovered by police during a sweep of Invicta House and surrounding grounds yesterday (June 24).
Officers from Kent Police’s Community Policing Team in Thanet carried out the routine search at the Margate towerblock in Millmead Road during the morning as part of ongoing work to reduce violent crime in the district.
#CPT conducting #WeaponSweepWednesday yesterday in the fight against violent crime in #Thanet. A number of knives and potential weapons located and destroyed. An effective way to get weapons and dangerous articles off the street making your community a safer place to be. pic.twitter.com/E6YwrKrXdA
— Kent Police Thanet (@kentpolicethan) June 25, 2020
Kent Police say a total of eight items which could be used as potential weapons, including the knives, were found.
Four knife amnesty bins are in place around Thanet and police officers are urging anyone carrying a weapon to hand it in anonymously by placing it in one of the bins.
These are at the top of Margate High Street and on Edgar Road in Cliftonville, and in Ramsgate at the train station and on Albion Hill.
Installed on March 31, the knife amnesty bins were organised in partnership with the police as part of Operation Sceptre, a nationwide initiative set up to tackle knife crime.
The bins are funded by the Violence Reduction Unit. They form part of a wider strategy to the reduction of knife crime in the Thanet area. As of June 18 a total of 40 knives had been placed in the bins since they were installed.
‘how often are these knife amnesty bins emptied? Are they permanently monitored? Seems to this writer they are places where someone nearby who needs a weapon in a hurry might be tempted to go and pick one up for free…