Project Guardian Deployments: The specialist Project Guardian Taskforce has a dedicated team for the Western area (Sandwell, Dudley, Walsall, and Wolverhampton) that conducts daily high-visibility and plain-clothed patrols in identified hotspots. In 2025/2026, this taskforce has been specifically active in Tipton, recently making 13 arrests in a single operational period for weapon and drug-related offenses.

Hotspot Patrols: Officers are deployed to specific streets and public spaces, such as Princes End in Tipton, which have been analytically identified as having a higher risk of knife-enabled robbery.

Weapon Sweeps: Neighbourhood teams and taskforce officers conduct frequent weapon sweeps in local parks and open spaces, such as Victoria Park and Stony Lane Park, to locate and remove discarded or hidden knives.

Ronan’s Law Enforcement: Officers are strictly enforcing the ban on dangerous weapons like "ninja swords" and zombie knives, which are frequently used in serious youth violence. 

Data-Driven Policing: Using geographic analysis tools, WMP pinpoints the "risky facilities" (such as transport interchanges and fast-food outlets) responsible for a disproportionate volume of incidents, allowing for more precise officer placement in Sandwell.

Knife Arches & Stop Search: The force uses mobile knife arches (metal detectors) and proactive stop-search powers in high-crime areas. In 2025, Guardian teams carried out over 4,600 stop searches across the region.

Youth Intervention: Officers are stationed daily in local schools across Tipton to deliver anti-knife crime workshops, aiming to divert young people from carrying weapons before they enter the criminal justice system. 

In the Sandwell area, bins are strategically placed to be accessible to residents of Tipton and Great Bridge.

Between late 2025 and January 2026, over 1,000 weapons were recovered from these bins region-wide.