BURTON police have armed themselves with wrist-mounted metal detectors in a bid to stay 'one step ahead' in the fight against knife crime.
Officers are trialling £200 wrist support and watch-style gadgets for a month, but may be equipped with them permanently if they prove successful.
The devices - a wrist support-style item known as the Mitt, and a wristwatch-style item called the Frisker Pro - work when they are waved over a suspect's clothing, vibrating to alert officers if they pick up concealed weapons such as daggers or cleavers.
Both are so sensitive they can detect items as small as paper clips, with the wrist support being so ingenious it can even indicate the size of the item detected.
Although the Frisker Pro devices have already been used in Tamworth, police in Burton are the first in Staffordshire to trial the Mitt.
Other forces have used both types of detector and Greater Manchester Police is understood to routinely use the Mitt.
Inspector Jav Oomer, commander of the Burton's Neighbourhood Policing Unit, was granted permission for the trial after reading about the devices in a policing profession magazine.
He said: "Knife crime in Staffordshire is very low compared to the national average, and it's our intention to keep it that way. To do so, we need to stay ahead of the game."
Targeted use of the devices would help police do this by allowing them to carry out stop and search operations more efficiently, he said. More practical than hand-held 'wand' detectors, they not only reassured officers by allowing them to work with their hands free, but let them uncover evidence of other illegal activity by, for example, tracing drug syringes.
Insp Oomer said: "The idea is to get them on the streets and use them in different types of situation and see how they work."
Apart from stop-and-search operations, officers will use the gadgets while executing warrants and during Burton Albion's home game against Kidderminster Harriers on Bank Holiday Monday.
Insp Oomer said the decision on whether or not his team was given permanent use of the detectors would depend on their success in detecting items which had previously proved difficult to find.