Dedicated knife crime team sees 272 arrests, £225k cash, 178 vehicles and 91 weapons seized in 2025 as Sceptre launches
Since the beginning of the year, Greater Manchester Police (GMP)’s dedicated knife crime team Operation Venture have made 272 arrests, seized 91 weapons, conducted 22 disruption visits, seized 178 vehicles, and seized over £225K.
The team move across different hotspot areas all over Greater Manchester, strengthening resources in districts to tackle violent crime and are proactively looking to prevent, deter, reduce, and tackle knife crime head on, and at the root causes.
Their work feeds into the Greater Manchester Violence Reduction Unit, a multi-agency team that seeks to prevent violence by addressing the underlying causes.
This work will continue alongside district activity including knife sweeps, amnesty bins, school visits and test purchasing, as part of Sceptre, a national week of intensification to tackle knife crime, which came to Greater Manchester on Monday 17 November 2025.
Across Greater Manchester, officers will be undertaking a range of operational activity to target offenders as well as highlighting the risks and consequences of carrying a knife.
To kick the week off GMP hosted a knife crime Q&A session on Monday 17 November 2025 with representatives from GMP, Navigators, Violence Reduction Unit, Crown Prosecution Service and education leads. You can see the questions that were asked and answers here.
Superintendent Richard Thompson, who leads GMP’s response to knife crime and serious violence said: “Sceptre is a week of intensification across the country as forces look to tackle the threat of knife crime and serious violence. Within Greater Manchester our dedicated team Operation Venture was set up in 2022 to answer this threat. They are specially selected and ring-fenced to respond to serious violence, working across Greater Manchester helping to detect and deter violent crime.
“Knife crime has no place in our communities and on our streets. We know how devastating the impact knife crime can cause on families, and the wider community which is why the Operation Venture team have so far dedicated over 12,000 hours since the beginning of the year to tackle this head on.
“During Sceptre, we will be continuing our focus tackling key hotspot areas of concern as well as providing support to our district teams and reassurance to the community. A key focus will also be working with retailers to ensure they are following Challenge 25 policies and doing everything they can to stop knives falling into the wrong hands.
“We also rely on intelligence from our communities – we have had numerous pieces of intelligence given to us which helps us to understand our hotspot areas and ensure our teams are tackling the concerns and issues that matter to you. I would encourage anyone who has information relating to knife crime and serious violence to speak out. You can do it to ourselves or anonymously through CrimeStoppers.
“We are committed to tackling knife crime head on, and with your support we can continue to arrest people, take weapons off the streets and keep people safe.”
Kate Green, Deputy Mayor of policing, crime, criminal justice, and fire:
“Operation Venture has a huge impact in terms of reducing knife crime and serious incidents across Greater Manchester by proactively patrolling violence hotspots and using intelligence to take knives and weapons off our streets, making our communities safer. To support this work, our Violence Reduction Unit is working with partners to educate people about the dangers of carrying weapons and the penalties for doing so, along with prevention work to provide positive activities and support for young people and families where it is needed.
“Collectively, we will continue to address the root causes of violence in our communities and help make them safer and more resilient, and our city-region the best place for young people to live well.”
Report any concerns you may have to police via LiveChat at www.gmp.police.uk, or by calling 101 or 999 in an emergency. Alternatively, contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.
Young people can also pass on information anonymously to Fearless, part of Crimestoppers, by calling 0800 555 111 or visiting fearless.org. There is also lots of help and support available on their website.
