The newly created Project Guardian Western team arrested a 16-year-old boy whilst on patrol in Walsall after they discovered he was allegedly carrying a knife.

The boy was taken into custody after the team, who were carrying out patrols targeting knife crime, made the arrest on Monday. They also discovered a small bag of cannabis.

The boy, who can’t be named due to his age, has since been charged with possessing a knife and possessing Class B drugs. He has been bailed with strict conditions to appear at Birmingham Youth Court on February 2nd.

The Project Guardian Western taskforce, covering Walsall, Dudley, Sandwell and Wolverhampton was set up at the end of last year and is proving to be a great success in tackling knife crime and youth violence.

The taskforce aims to reduce violent crime with a focus on reducing knife crime in young people. This means they now have more officers complimenting existing neighbourhood teams. Inspector Colin Gallier, who leads Western Project Guardian taskforce, said:

“This is yet another good arrest for the Project Guardian team and we will continue to target those who carry knives.

“However, we are not just there to target offenders. We like to engage with the public, let them know what we do as a team and to raise awareness of knife crime and the impact of carrying knives.

"If you see one of our Project Guardian officers please come over to us. We will only be too pleased to talk to you and give you an insight into what we do.”