The police continue their battle against knife crime in the West Midlands. The Police and Crime Commissioner, Simon Foster, is set to join local officers as they empty a weapon surrender bin, highlighting the region's efforts to reduce dangerous weapons on the streets.
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00:00Well today has been at one of the openings of the network of 31 weapons
00:06surrender bins that I fund across the West Midlands. They're all opened every
00:11three months or so and today we've been opening the weapons surrender bin in
00:15Aston and for example over a nine-week period between April and June earlier
00:22this year the weapons surrender bins were responsible for removing 1,118
00:28dangerous weapons from the streets of the West Midlands and we're in the
00:32process of opening the 31 again this time round. The opening of the weapons
00:39surrender bin in Aston revealed a significant number of knives underscoring
00:44the severity of the issue in our communities. The bin was filled with
00:48various types of blades each potentially representing a life saved or an incident
00:54prevented. Alongside the knives collected in this round police showcased
00:58other dangerous weapons previously surrendered through this initiative
01:02highlighting the ongoing efforts to remove these threats from our streets.
01:07The display of confiscated items served as a stark reminder of the dangers of
01:12these weapons and the importance of continued community engagement in the
01:17fight against knife crime. Well I think people really do appreciate the
01:22existence of the network of weapons surrender bins. I think people understand
01:27that they're an important initiative. They are of course just but one
01:31contribution to preventing tackling and reducing knife crime but they are popular.
01:37We often have calls from local communities, local councillors, elected
01:41representatives to locate knife bins within their particular communities and
01:45of course whenever possible we do consider all requests to locate knife
01:50bins across the West Midlands and I'm certainly committed to maintaining the
01:54investment I've made to support the existing network of 31 weapons surrender
01:58bins across the West Midlands.