Sheffield schools reject body scanner offer from police to search pupils for knives

Detectors were used at the Parkwood E-Act Academy in Shirecliffe in the city last summer as part of a police operation to crackdown on knife crime after a man was shot and another stabbed during clashes between rival Somali and Kurdish gangs in the city.

Security arches - which can detect if someone is carrying a knife or gun - are metal detectors often seen at airports and which are commonplace in many American high schools.

During the two days the arches were in place at the academy, no knives and guns were found at the school and no weapons placed in amnesty bins placed around the premises.

South Yorkshire Police said in July it intended to roll out the temporary siting of the arches at a number of other schools around the city from September as part of its knife crime education work.

But the force has now confirmed that the offer to use the security equipment was turned down by secondary schools that were approached to see if they wished to install it.

A spokeswoman for the force said: “The knife arches were used during the weapons surrender but have since been removed. Other schools were asked if they wanted to continue use of the knife arches but they declined.”

It comes after teaching unions told The Yorkshire Post schools should not be turned into “prisons” with increased security measures despite new figures revealing a 151 per cent increase in reported offences in South Yorkshire schools linked to knife crime in the last academic year.

Calls were made by the National Education Union and the National Union of Teachers for more focus to be placed on educating children about the dangers of getting involved in knife crime.

Deputy Assistant Commissioner Duncan Ball, the National Police Chiefs Council lead on knife-enabled crime, said positive action is already being taken on the problem.

“Every child in this country has the right to a safe education and although rare, we are seeing a small number of knife crime offences happening on school premises. Technology is a helpful tool in keeping our children safe, but knife wands will not stop the issue completely, to do this we must educate.

“Knife crime is a growing problem amongst young people and we continue to work closely with partners to address this. There is amazing work happening in schools across the country to educate young people and explain why carrying a knife is never the right choice. We will do everything we can to support this education and reduce the numbers of knives on the streets.”