Watch as police descend on bus station in day of action
West Midlands Police have held a major operation at a bus station as part of an anti-knife initiative.
Walsall Bus Station, on St Pauls Street, was buzzing with police activity as officers from the St Matthew's Local Policing Team erected a knife-arch to catch out those who carry blades.
The action was held as part of the wider Operation Advance campaign on Tuesday, which saw a number of events take place around the Walsall area to help reduce violent crime.
In an exclusive invitation, the Express & Star joined officers as they held conversations with commuters and searched for weapons and paraphernalia.
The operation began at 3pm to coincide with the busiest time of day for the bus station and involved over 10 officers, a knife-arch, and PD Peanut, a special police sniffer dog.
Starting the initiative, PC Courtney Tongue, said: "We are here for Op Advance, we are looking at robbery, knife crime and drugs.
"It's a priority in the area, we have had reports about safeguarding so we are here to hold stops and searches for drugs and knives and hopefully make everyone feel much safer in the town centre.
