Eggbuckland Community college -Knife crime workshop : Sun 29 Mar 21:00

Dear Resident, 

The Local neighbourhood officers attended Eggbuckland community college this week along with the child centered policing team to deliver work shops to the year 8 students regarding knife crime. The Knife angel has been in Plymouth throughout March. At 27 feet tall and made from more than 100,000 seized or surrendered knives, the sculpture serves as a powerful reminder of the impact that violence can have on individuals, families and communities. Its visit is designed to create space for reflection, conversation and education, and to bring people together to focus on prevention and safer choices.  If you haven't seen it yet it is in town until Tuesday ad is very thought provoking. 

 All the students a Eggbuckland engaged really well and were a credit to the school and their parents. They were given facts regarding knife crime and information regarding how to keep safe but also report concerns and what they might look like.  They were shown a video of a true story about a boy who took a knife out with him thinking he was protecting himself after a falling out regarding a bike, but this was used against him and he was fatally injured.  The children worked in groups to discuss topics surrounding knife crime. We explained our powers for stopping and searching children and the fact that those powers are no different for children compared to adults to keep people safe from harm. and how seriously we take it If we receive information or intelligence that someone is carrying a bladed article or offensive weapon and what an offensive weapon can come in the form of. Luckily the stats for Knife crime in Devon and Cornwall are low compared to other cities, and we intend to keep it that way. 

We always enjoy attending the schools to hopefully have an impact on the children and help prevent them making bad choices that may affect the rest of their lives. 

In other news, there was a drugs operation on patch this weekend with a police dog on Friday night in some of the pubs in the North of the city which had some positive results. Then last night into the early hours of this morning we have been policing down town engaging with door staff in licensed premises and our CCTV operator to help keep the night time economy safe.

I hope you have had a safe weekend.

PC Middleton