There’s a “real appetite” from communities to get rid of knife crime. That was the message from Avon and Somerset Police as Bristol’s first two community surrender weapons bins were installed yesterday (Monday) in the city centre and in South Bristol.
The community surrender bins were officially installed in The Park Centre in Daventry Road and Castle Park in the city centre in a bid to get more dangerous weapons off the streets. This follows the force's initiative where 13 weapon surrender bins were placed next to police stations or shared police sites and local authority buildings in 2016, which allowed for dangerous weapons to be handed in without any questions being asked.
Avon and Somerset Police's lead for knife crime, Chief Inspector Mike Vass, said those bins saw more than 4,000 dangerous weapons being handed in - and the goal of the new community weapon surrender bins was to widen the initiative to get weapons off the street by improving accessibility. He said: “It’s really exciting because these units are only going into position at the request of communities as to where they’ve asked for.”
