Leeds United Football Club will support West Yorkshire Police as they help to raise awareness on the national week of action to tackle knife crime.
The initiative called Operation Sceptre will run all week until Sunday 22 September and West Yorkshire Police will be carrying out a range of activities to help protect the community from potentially devastating consequences through prevention, education and enforcement.
As part of the increased level of activity to support the week of action the local police force will be carrying out test purchase operations in stores, knife sweeps around the city and arrest enquiries.
They will also be working with the club to deliver a workshop around the topic of knife crime to youngsters taking part in a Premier League Kicks session with the Leeds United Foundation and there will be activity at Elland Road ahead of Saturday’s Sky Bet Championship fixture, to help raise awareness about the issues surrounding knife crime and the work being done to try and educate the local community.
Detective Superintendent Chris Gibson is the Serious Violent Crime Lead for West Yorkshire Police, and has spoken about the importance of raising awareness around the campaign, he said: “As a senior detective I have seen first-hand the devastating consequences knife crime can have - for victims, the wider community and even perpetrators and their families in particular.
“Operation Sceptre allows us to get the message out there that carrying a knife is never the answer. Through Operation Sceptre I am appealing directly to young people in particular not to get involved in knife crime and if they are to turn their life around. There is a choice.
“We want to spread the #knifefree message to young people in particular and that is why it is so important to have a positive community role model such as Leeds United involved. I am very grateful for their support and by working in partnership with them we can make a real difference."
Prevention is about removing knives from circulation, reiterating the consequences and the seriousness of carrying a knife.
Education is about breaking the chain, targeting those most vulnerable to carrying knives, namely young people in their teens.
Enforcement is about using proactive police powers and community intelligence to target areas where people are thought to routinely carry knives – using stop and search powers, knife arches and detector wands to prevent and deter people from carrying knives.
