Knife amnesty bins installed in Wellingborough and East Northants

Knife amnesty bins have been installed in Wellingborough and East Northants at seven locations as part of campaign to tackle knife crime.

Northamptonshire Police, working in partnership with North Northants Council and Greatwell Homes, installed the orange bins on Friday (February 25) around the Queensway, Hemmingwell, Kingsway and town centre areas in Wellingborough and in Rushden, Higham Ferrers and Irthlingborough.

The bins will be permanent locations in which people can anonymously and safely dispose of knives as some people find handing knives into the police daunting.

It will also provide a much safer and secure way of disposing of blades than using normal household bins.

Neighbourhood Policing Sergeant Chris Stevens said: “These bins will be a real asset to the community because we often find that people feel handing knives directly to police officers is quite an intimidating experience.

“We want to make it as easy as possible to get knives off our streets and out of the hands of people who may misuse them, and this is a great scheme to help us do that.

“The sad fact is that a lot of people, particularly young people, do not truly understand the dangers knives pose and that they can easily be used to kill someone. In fact, it takes only centimetres in depth to inflict a fatal knife wound.

“We often find that young offenders involved in knife crime did not intend to seriously injure or kill someone, they simply do not comprehend how dangerous a knife is.

“Tackling knife crime is a matter of priority for this force and alongside the bleed kits and educational messages that are already out there, we hope that these bins will be effective in reducing the number of knives out on the streets.

“Even one knife off the streets is better than nothing and is potentially a life saved, and I am grateful to our partners for assisting us in the funding of these bins.”

Wellingborough-based anti-knife crime charity Off The Streets (OTS) NN was set up to eradicate knife crime in Northants communities, through the encouragement and utilisation of community initiatives and services.

Rav Jones, representative of Off The Streets NN, said: “OTS are honoured to be working together with the authorities installing these community amnesty boxes.

“This initiative is to make our streets safer and to remove knives to support our drive to eradicate knife crime. We are urging the community to unite and support this by discarding any surplus knives and sharp objects. Let’s work together to make our county safer and set the standard for future generations.

“Behaviour is infectious - let’s be the change together and show the rest of the country how powerful a community working together can be. #togetherwestand”

Kerry Purnell, North Northamptonshire Council’s assistant director for housing and communities, said: “Every knife taken off the streets makes our communities a little safer and I’m delighted to see the amnesty bins have been installed. This is just one strand of the anti-knife-crime strategy for the area.”

Chris Holloway, head of housing and support services at Greatwell Homes, added: “We’re pleased to be a part of such an important project that will help to improve the safety of our community.”