The Metropolitan Police announced a 'Community Weapon Sweep' will be held at Blangdon's Park in New Malden next Wednesday (August 21).

The outreach event forms part of the Met's wide-ranging Operation Sceptre, which was launched in 2015 with the aim of reducing knife crime in the capital.

The event, was publicised by the Met's Beverley ward police team, who invited residents to meet the officers working in the area to tackle violent crime and help offer community-based solutions to the issue.

"We are holding a community weapon sweep in Blagdon Park on Wednesday 21st August at 3pm, meeting by the entrance to the park on Blagdon Road, New Malden. 

"Feel free to join and help make the area safe, or just come along to meet the team. 

"Hope to see many of you there," a spokesperson for Met Police Beverley said. 

Community weapon sweeps are one of several tactics of Operation Sceptre employed by the Met Police.

They aim to reduce violent crime in a particular area by conducting searches for weapons, many of which are hidden or abandoned in public places by those who carry them. 

"We launched Operation Sceptre in July 2015 with the aim of reducing knife crime and the number families affected by knife crime across the whole of London. 

"The launch was designed to coincide with new legislation that means that those convicted of carrying a knife for the second time will face a mandatory custodial sentence. 

"Operation Sceptre seeks to target not only those who carry and use knives, but also the supply, access and importation of weapons," a statement published on the Met's website regarding Operation Sceptre reads. 

According to official police statistics, there were an average of 20.6 violent/sexual offences carried out for every 1,000 people in the borough of Kingston between June 2018 and May 2019. 

The borough's own statistics on violent crime were slightly lower than the averages for London (26.7) and England (29.9) during the same period.