Middlesbrough McDonald's using metal detectors to combat knife crime as campaign launched
Gregg Easteal reports on knife crime in Cleveland
A McDonald's restaurant is using metal detectors to protect staff and other customers from knife crime.
Security staff at the branch on Linthorpe Road in Middlesbrough, as well as other local businesses, have been using specialist ‘wands’ looking for concealed weapons at night after a rise in knife crime in the area.
Cleveland Police is the second-highest police area in the United Kingdom for levels of knife crime.
The force has now unveiled a new knife crime awareness campaign "Carrying a Blade Doesn’t Give You an Edge" aimed at 11 to 24-year-olds. It is hoped that education and engagement sessions will prevent youths from becoming involved by demonstrating the repercussions of carrying a blade.
Barney Green, Vascular Surgeon at James Cook University Hospital knows more than most about the dangers of knife crime having treated the increasing number of victims.
"Unfortunately we still see one individual admitted to our Accident and Emergency Department every three days as the victim of a knife assault," he explained. "The types of injuries are varied and you would roughly break them into slashing or stabbing but none of them are good."
The campaign will run alongside enforcement strategies like stop and search as the force tries to reduce the number of knife attacks.
Richard Baker, Assistant Chief Constable of Cleveland Police, said: "Proactive enforcement is one of our particular tactics. We will stop and search people.
"We will be very tough on people carrying knives but criticising young people who have never been in trouble before is not necessarily always the way forward."
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