More than 250 arrested in violent crime crackdown

West Yorkshire Police arrested more than 250 people in December as part of a specialist operation to tackle violent crime.

The force said it seized 28 dangerous weapons over the course of the month, including hunting knives and a baseball bat.

A 17-year old boy banned from Leeds city centre was among those arrested after he discarded a machete while running from officers, who had spotted him in the area.

Three men were also detained on suspicion of possession with intent to supply Class A drugs after running from Shears Yard in Leeds.

Officers later seized a knife from one of the men's homes.

They were among 256 people arrested across the region as part of Operation Jemlock last month.

The force said the use of new facial recognition technology had helped it catch criminals.

Civil liberties groups had argued against the rollout of the technology, which was first used in Leeds in November, with Big Brother Watch claiming it was "disproportionate" and would affect innocent people.

But Ch Insp John Paul Berriff said: "These mobile units give us a really important new ability to help locate dangerous individuals, safeguard the public, and locate those at risk.

He added: "Jemlock was formed specifically to reduce violent crime, and violent crime involving weapons in particular, so it has been welcome that our Spotlight patrols have resulted in a number of weapon related arrests and seizures over the last four weeks."

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