Cops join campaign with launch of knife amnesty
A KNIFE amnesty is due to be launched as part of the Mail’s Safer Burton campaign to get weapons off the streets.
To help the fight against knife crime, the Mail will be working with Staffordshire Police to set up secure knife bins around the town in a bid to crack down on people carrying the potentially lethal weapons.
Staffordshire Police, which fully backs the Safer Burton crusade, is in the process of organising the amnesty which is expected to run for a month.
People will be urged to hand in knives and other weapons — anonymously — at venues yet to be confirmed.
Chief Inspector Steve Maskrey, commander of East Staffordshire Local Policing Unit, told the Mail: “We’ve had permission from Staffordshire Police headquarters to run a local knife amnesty in connection with the Mail’s Safer Burton campaign.
“We don’t want people to think there is a particular high level of knife crime in Burton, because there isn’t compared to other towns and cities, but if the campaign can prevent one person from taking a knife out or being injured by one, then it is totally worth it.”
The chief inspector added: “I attended meetings before Safer Burton was launched, met Yvonne Upton and heard for myself about the tragic experience she went through when losing her son to knife crime, so from the offset we have been fully behind this campaign.
“Staffordshire Police runs a Safer Nights operation in Burton and has aims identical to the Mail’s campaign — so they compliment each other nicely.
“Safer Burton has our full backing and support and we look forward to working together to crack down on crime in the area.”
Yvonne Upton, whose 21-year-old son, Connor, was stabbed to death outside a Burton nightclub in June 2010, said she thought the knife amnesty was a ‘fantastic idea’.
Mrs Upton, who is one of the main figures behind Safer Burton, said: “Knife amnesties have been very successful in other areas of the country so I think it will work in Burton.
Even if we get a few knives handed in — that’s still a few knives off our streets.
“The support for the campaign has been brilliant so far and I would like to urge people to keep working together.
“If we all work together we can try and make positive changes in our community.”
Safer Burton is initally focusing on knife crime and, if successful, the campaign will continue to tackle and highlight a number of other issues — including drug abuse and anti-social behaviour.
