A specialist police team tackling serious youth violence across Solihull and Coventry made 87 arrests and seized 68 weapons during the first six months of 2026.

West Midlands Police's Guardian Eastern Taskforce was deployed 115 times between January and June, carrying out high-visibility patrols in hotspot areas aimed at preventing crime involving weapons and drugs.

During the same period, officers conducted 439 stop-and-searches and recovered a range of weapons, including knives, swords, tasers and knuckledusters.

The most common offences leading to arrests were possession with intent to supply Class A drugs (19 arrests), possession of an offensive weapon (18) and possession of a blade (15).

In one incident in March, officers stopped a vehicle in Chelmsley Wood and recovered a taser, baseball bat, knuckleduster and lock knife.

A man was arrested and later charged.

Inspector Colin Gallier, from Project Guardian, said: "Serious youth violence has devastating impacts and leads to misery for all involved.

"Young people often are forced to carry weapons by criminal gangs and, tragically, this can result in them or others being seriously injured or losing their lives.

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"Every weapon taken off the street is potentially a life saved and we rely on information from the public about suspicious activity they see happening."

Police are encouraging anyone concerned about young people being exploited by criminal gangs to report information via 101 or anonymously through Crimestoppers.