Police warn people may be stopped and searched for knives in Milton Keynes

This week is Op Sceptre, the national week of action to tackle knife crime.

It comes days after local police launched a murder investigation following the fatal stabbing of a 17-year-old boy at Springfield on Saturday night.

It also falls part way through the trial of five men accused of stabbing teenagers Dom Ansah and Ben Gillham-Rice to death at a house party in Mk last Autumn.

A police spokesman said this week on social media: "Today we will be exploring stop and search, your rights and how it is used by the police to protect you and your communities."

A Section 60 order gives police power to stop and search anybody, even if there are no grounds to suspect they may be carrying a knife or other weapons.

This order can be in place in any area if a senior police officer believes that serious violence may take place or has taken place.

When a Section 60 is in place officers can search you without needing to suspect whether you might be carrying weapons, drugs or dangerous items.

Without such an order, a police officer has powers to stop and search a person if they have ‘reasonable grounds’ to suspect they carrying a weapon, illegal drugs, stolen property or something which could be used to commit a crime, such as a crowbar

Before a person is searched the police officer must tell them their name and police station, the reason they want to search you and why they are legally allowed to search them.

A police officer can ask the person being searched to take off their coat, jacket or gloves. They might be asked to take off other clothes and anything they wearing for religious reasons - for example a veil or turban.

But government rules say the person must be taken somewhere out of public view if this happens, and, if other clothing is removed, the officer must be the same sex as the person being searched.

If you suspect someone is carrying a knife, call police on 101 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111. In an emergency always dial 999.