Knife bins

The best place to dispose of a knife is in a knife bin. These are safe and secure places to place unwanted knives or sharp items.

Using the bins helps to keep unwanted knives off our streets. They are regularly emptied and the knives are destroyed, unless there is an obvious sign that it has been used in a crime.

We have a knife bin in every district council area. Here is where you can find them. 

Research shows that carrying a knife doesn’t offer protection. In fact it increases the likelihood that an someone might be stabbed. Every time someone leaves a knife in a knife bin, they are making a positive decision to live knife-free, keeping themselves and those around them safe.

But our knife bins are just one of the ways we are tackling knife crime.

Hotspot policing

Hot spots are areas with high levels of crime and disorder. 

Hot spot policing is a strategy for reducing crime. It targets resources and activities in hot spots. The strategy is based on the idea that:

• crime and disorder are not evenly spread within neighbourhoods. But clustered in small locations.
  
  
• focusing resources on persistent high-crime areas can tackle crime problems more effectively.

Tactics could include more police officers on patrol in the area. Or utilising knife detection arches and stop and search powers. It could also include the use of dispersal orders or Section 60s.

Working together

We work alongside organisations like the Essex Violence and Vulnerability Unit (VVU) and The Ben Kinsella Trust to educate our communities on the dangers of carrying a knife.

By working together we aim to prevent crime involving weapons such as knives. This includes diverting young people away from violent crime or gangs. And instead to more positive choices which involve sports, education, volunteering and rehabilitation.