Watch as we join police chief to empty knife bin in Birmingham - here's what we found
We joined Police and Crime Commissioner Simon Foster today in Aston to empty one of the 31 weapon surrender bins in the West Midlands
Every knife, blade or weapon placed in a surrender bin is potentially a life saved.
That was the stark reality that faced everyone gathered round the knife surrender bin at Tesco in Aston, Birmingham.
The commissioner was joined by West Midlands Police officers to open one of the 31 bins across the region.
Inside, were more than 50 deadly and terrifying weapons from huge machetes, zombie-style knives, batons and swords to small blades.
The stark imagery of the deadly weapons displayed next to the bin underscored the severity of the issue in our society. The bin worked to remove the threats from our streets - each weapon representing an incident prevented.
There have been a total of 1,118 knives, guns and horrific weapons deposited in the containers across a nine-week period. In some cases, but not in this one, it has also included guns.
It comes as we're launching a campaign called Silent Crime to look at issues in Birmingham in greater depth.
Let us know in our new survey
From flytipping and shoplifting to robbery and rape - we want to know what you make of the crimes in your area that are going unreported or are reported with no further action.
Do you see this as a big issue? Let us know in the survey below that we may use to inform our ongoing crime campaign where we aim to highlight the number of low-level and unreported crime sweeping the country and going unpunished.
We aim to compile a dossier of evidence - both data and stories - and present these to the Prime Minister.
Click here for the survey.
The PCC pays for the installation and maintenance of all 31 containers in the West Midlands.
The last time the bins were emptied more than 1,000 knives, guns and other weapons were successfully deposited and later destroyed.
Thanks to the PCC’s initiative, it means, on average, more than 120 deadly weapons continue to be taken off the streets per week here in the West Midlands.
PCC Foster said: “They are all opened every three months and today we’ve been opening one in Aston. I think people do appreciate the surrender bins. People understand it is an important initiative.
“They are popular we often have calls for local communities to locate them and of course we do consider all requests.”