A campaign to help reduce serious incidents of knife crime in Staffordshire and keep communities safe has launched this month.
Trading Standards officers from Staffordshire County Council are once again working with Staffordshire Police as part of a joint initiative to prevent the sale of knives to children and young people. The activity forms part of the ongoing #DitchTheBlade campaign, which runs throughout May.
Officers will be visiting retailers across Staffordshire to raise awareness of the law and to offer advice on responsible knife sales. This includes ensuring knives are not sold to anyone under the age of 18, checking photo ID carefully where there is any doubt about a customer’s age, and storing knives securely so they are not openly accessible within stores.
Retailers who sell knives online are also reminded that they must have effective age verification checks in place at the point of sale and ensure that delivery arrangements prevent products being supplied to under 18s.
Anthony Screen, Cabinet Member for Community Safety and Resilience at Staffordshire County Council, said:
“Knife crime is a serious concern for communities and preventing knives from reaching children and young people is a crucial part of tackling that harm at source.
“Our Trading Standards officers work closely with Staffordshire Police to support businesses to understand and meet their legal responsibilities. Most retailers want to do the right thing and officers will always provide advice and guidance where needed.
“However, selling a knife to someone under 18 is a criminal offence. Where businesses persistently fail to follow the law, we will not hesitate to take formal enforcement action, including prosecution.
“This means we can create a safer and stronger Staffordshire for everyone, which is a key aim of our recently published Community Safety Strategy.”
Chief Inspector Dave Barrow, force knife-crime lead, said:
“Young people having access to knives can have devastating consequences in our communities; not only on individuals, but their families and wider network.
“Though it is illegal to sell knives to children and anyone under the age of 18, a small minority of businesses can be found to be breaking the law by not carrying out the required checks.
“That is why we continue to support our partners at Trading Standards as part of our ongoing #DitchtheBlade campaign, to protect young people and businesses from the impact of accessing knives.
“We hope that by continuing to raise awareness of the impact of knife-related offences, we can prevent young people from accessing them and further protect our communities from harm.”
As part of this year’s activity, Trading Standards will also be carrying out a number of proactive checks to make sure that retailers are complying with the law. This work will be targeted at independent retailers and forms part of the service’s wider programme of age-restricted sales enforcement.
Anyone concerned about the illegal sale of knives can report this to Trading Standards via the Report It webpage, on 01785 330356 or through Crime Stoppers on 0800 555 111.
