Almost 1,000 dangerous weapon offences logged in Sheffield in 12 months

It comes as new data shows how possession of dangerous weapon offence numbers have changed over a 12-month period in the four areas of South Yorkshire.

There have been almost 1,000 offences in Sheffield (912) where people have been caught carrying knives or other offensive weapons between March 2023 and March 2024, according to new data published recently.

This is a more than 15 per cent increase from the previous year (790), the data published by the Office for National Statistics showed.

However, the biggest jump in South Yorkshire was in Rotherham – while last year there were 322 registered offences, there were 392 offences in the year ending March 2024, which is a more than 21 per cent increase.

The data also shows a decrease of 7.3 per cent and 8.6 per cent in the possession of weapon offences in Barnsley and Doncaster, respectively.

Detective David Cowley, South Yorkshire Police’s force lead for knife crime, told the Local Democracy Reporting Service that tackling knife crime remains a priority and the force is committed to reducing the number of offences.

“We know that in order to reduce knife crime, we need to look at a broad range of interventions, such as engagement with our communities, especially young people, and looking at how we can support services provided by our local partners such as the Violence Reduction Unit,” he said.

“Within South Yorkshire Police, we have dedicated operations such as those run by our Hotspot Response Policing Hub. These look at tackling most serious violence including knife crime. Officers are deployed to conduct high-visibility patrols, engaging with the community in key hotspot areas. They also focus on searching land where we know weapons are stashed and stopping and searching those who are suspected to be involved in violent crime.

“We have experienced first-hand the devastation that knife crime brings to families and our residents here in South Yorkshire, and this is why we are working hard to take these frankly appalling weapons off our streets.”

The new data comes as the Home Office is set to launch nationwide a surrender and compensation scheme for ‘zombie-style’ knives and machetes.