Op Guardian and Walsall neighbourhood officers team up to arrest teenage boy for possessing a knife

Op Guardian officers assisted by our St Matthew’s neighbourhood team arrested a 16-year-old boy and recovered a Rambo knife while on patrol in Walsall town centre.

The dedicated Op Guardian team, introduced in 2019 to tackle knife crime, made the arrest yesterday (Thurs), shortly after 2.25pm in Stafford Street, following reports a male had pulled out a weapon.

Officers arrested a teenage boy following a short foot chase. He was taken into custody on suspicion of possessing an article with a blade or point in a public place and has since been released on bail with strict conditions as we continue with our enquiries.

During the patrols Op Guardian officers carried out stop searches which resulted in a number of drug seizures and referrals to support service Cranstoun.

Inspector Pete Poolton, neighbourhood policing manager at Walsall Local Policing Area, said: “This was an excellent arrest with another knife taken off the streets of Walsall. Op Guardian officers play a vital role in our efforts to reduce serious under 25 violence in the town centre with the assistance of our dedicated St Matthew’s team.”

Over the past five years Project Guardian has expanded to include teams specifically based to proactively deal with knife related crime, from based in Birmingham, Coventry and the Black Country.

Under 25 Serious Youth Violence is a Walsall LPA priority. For more information about how we are tackling knife crime go to Home - Life Or Knife - The choice is yours (west-midlands.police.uk)

Data released from the Office for National Statistics (ONS), covering the period year ending October 2023 to September 2024, showed that WMP had seen knife crime fall by 6%.