500 people searched for weapons in West Dunbartonshire

Jul 10 2009 by Amanda McKendrick, Lennox Herald (main ed)

ALMOST 500 people have been searched for weapons in Dunbartonshire as part of a police clampdown.

Officers have been focusing their efforts on weapon carriers as part of an anti-violence campaign launched by Strathclyde Police earlier this year.

Divisional Commander, Chief Superintendent John Thomson, said: “Police throughout Argyll, Bute and West Dunbartonshire Division have been working relentlessly to take weapons off the streets.

"So far this year, we have detected 95 crimes for possessing a knife or for carrying offensive weapons. In April and May officers carried out 492 individual stop searches for weapons – up 55 per cent from the same period last year.

“The evidence would suggest that fewer people are carrying knives as police are targeting the right people, at the right times, in the right places.”

Bins were also placed in police offices across the area to allow members of the public to voluntarily surrender their weapons.

The haul – which included swords, axes and machetes – has now been melted down into a series of plaques which will be displayed at Dumbarton and across Strathclyde.