Police swap uniform for plain clothes to prevent knife sales to underage people

Devon & Cornwall Police officers recently took to the streets of Plymouth to carry out a plain clothes operation in a bid to prevent knife sales to people under the age of 18.

Officers from Devonport were joined by two police cadets from Citizens In Policing, aged 14 and 16, to visit a number of shops where they attempted to purchase a bladed article, ranging from fishing knives to regular kitchen knife sets. 

Inspector Paul Laity, who heads up the neighbourhood team in Devonport, said: “This proactive work is part of our commitment to keep young people safe from harm. During the operation, we expect to see employees ask the young person for a valid form of identification at the earliest opportunity. If the person is not able to prove their age, the employee must not serve them. If the employee has any concerns about the young person or the attempted sale, they should always report this to the police.  

“This operation wasn’t about trying to ‘catch’ shops out. It was about educating employees on the importance of making sure the right checks are made when selling bladed items. Doing this ensures we’re all playing our part to keep young people and our communities safe. It also goes a long way in preventing and protecting vulnerable people from violent crime. We liaised with our colleagues in Trading Standards throughout the operation to ensure information was shared to protect the public."

Of the 18 shops visited, two failed to check the cadet’s age. Of the two that failed, the plain clothes officers stepped in before the purchase took place. Insp Laity continued: “We’ve had meaningful engagement with every shop and provided managers with educational material to give employees as reminder of the laws surrounding knife sales. Our previous plain clothes operation, which took place in May this year, saw seven shops fail the perform the correct checks, so it was encouraging to see an improvement. A number of shops had also implemented extra safety measures, such as all knives being stored behind the counter.

“I’d like to thank the cadets who volunteered their time to support this operation, as well as the shops who engaged with us. Our officers will continue to run these plain clothes operations across different locations and businesses in Plymouth in an effort to prevent the sale of knives to people under the age of 18. It’s everybody’s responsibility to do what they can to safeguard young people.”

Officers will also be working closely with local businesses so that they feel confident in their ability to prevent underage sales and where necessary, alert police officers to intervene to protect a young person.

Alex Fry, Heart of the South West Trading Standards Operations Manager said: “Heart of the South West Trading Standards works closely with the police on initiatives such as this to help ensure that retailers follow the law in respect of under-age sales.

“The results of the exercise were encouraging; it shows that the majority of retailers in Plymouth take their responsibilities as members of the community very seriously and have a high level of awareness of the importance of ensuring that they check a customer’s age before selling knives and other age restricted products.”

“Retailers need to have robust procedures in place and our officers are always willing to help them with training or practical compliance advice on avoiding underage sales.  Retailers can sign up to a free online toolkit that provides guidance on systems they can implement to help ensure they don’t break the law www.proofofage.org.uk”.

Selling a bladed article to a person under the age of 18 is illegal. ‘Challenge 25’ states that a retail worker should refuse to sell age-restricted products to anyone who appears to be under the age of 25 and does not have an acceptable form of ID. A retail worker can be fined for selling age-restricted products to people who are underage. The organisation can also receive an unlimited fine.

Carrying knives or bladed articles in the UK without good reason can result to up to four years’ imprisonment, an unlimited fine, or both.

If you witness age-restricted items being sold to those who are underage, please report this to Trading Standards. If you have any information about a crime, please contact the police via 101 or report on our website. Always call 999 if you are in immediate danger.