A new initiative is calling on retailers across Staffordshire to consider how they store and display knives.
Staffordshire Police and Trading Standards teams are launching the responsible retailer scheme on behalf of the Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent Violence Reduction Alliance.
Businesses will receive a pack offering best practice advice, a summary of legislation and materials to help them understand knife sales.
Staffordshire Commissioner Ben Adams said:
“Overall crime rates in Staffordshire are well below the national average, but there is still more to be done.
“Following recent community engagement, it is clear that our communities have some concerns particularly around knife crime.
“The Responsible Retailer Scheme will help to address some of these concerns, prevent the unlawful sale of knives and help protect communities.”
Ben Adams
Knives can only legally be sold to over 18s, so the pack also details the best way to avoid underage sales through staff training, record keeping and the appropriate way to display them.
Chief Inspector Rob Hessell, the knife crime lead for Staffordshire Police said:
“We’re really proud to launch this new scheme, building on our partnership work through the Ditch the Blade campaign to reduce knife crime in Staffordshire.
“We know that retailers take knife sales seriously and work with us to comply with legislation, so we hope the new responsible retailer pack for knives will help to reinforce best practice across the county to make Staffordshire even safer for local communities.”
Chief Inspector Rob Hessell, Staffordshire Police
