Police force bid to 'crack down on the culture of knife carrying'

Operation Deter, which is launching in Milton Keynes, aims to speed up charging and remanding offenders to court

A police force has launched a pilot scheme promising quicker collaboration with the courts for anyone caught carrying a knife.

Operation Deter, launched by Thames Valley Police, aims to ensure offenders are dealt with while still in custody.

Police and crime commissioner, Matthew Barber, said it would "crack down on the culture of knife carrying".

He said there was a "feeling nationally that possession is low level" with a focus on "crimes that used knives".

The offence of carrying a knife in public carries a maximum sentence of six months' imprisonment or a fine in the Magistrates Court - and up to four years' imprisonment in the Crown Court.

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The operation has been launched in Milton Keynes and is expected to be rolled out across the Thames Valley area.

It will mean that, for over-18s, any knife possession offences are "proactively charged and remanded to court by the force while the suspect is still in custody".

Following a charge, the custody sergeant will then take "a more robust approach to bail", the force said.

A package of care for under-18s will also be put in place to "deter them from a life of crime", he said, with youth workers brought in within 90 minutes of their arrival in police custody.

Assistant Chief Constable Tim De Meyer said the collaboration between police and the courts is "really important"

Assistant Chief Constable, Tim De Meyer, said the collaboration between police and both the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) and the courts is "really, really important".

"The more expeditiously cases progress through the system, the less of a chance there is for someone to offend whilst the case is being taken through the courts," he said.

Thames Valley police and crime commissioner, Matthew Barber, said they want to "really crack down on the culture of knife carrying"

Mr Barber said there had "perhaps been a feeling nationally that possession itself is low level".

"[We want] to say this is more than just possession, this is really posing a grave threat to life," he said.

"These are really serious offences and we want to make sure that that message gets out there, that if you are carrying a knife in Milton Keynes, you are going to be caught and when you are caught you are going to face the full force of the law."