Reducing knife crime and raising awareness of its dangers remain a major focus for Sussex Police.
Figures show a 10.8 per cent drop in offences compared with the previous year, though police say the issue still requires further action.
Sceptre week is underway, the national campaign aimed at cutting knife-related offences.
This week’s theme is test purchasing, as police check that retailers, including online sellers, are meeting legal requirements on knife sales.
Chief Inspector Jim Loader, Sussex Police’s serious violence and knife crime lead, said: "We have many innovative and proactive ways of tackling knife crime – it is much more than seizing knives and making arrests.
"Working with our partners and the community is key in our efforts to tackle some of the underlying causes of knife-related violence and work to stop those intent on causing serious violence.
"Sceptre week highlights our year-round tactics to address knife crime in Sussex. We are engaging with children in schools, raising the awareness of the wider impact of knife crime and ensuring people are signposted to help with partners at an early opportunity.
"Our message is clear: carrying a knife is dangerous and does not make you safer, it puts you at more risk of coming to harm.
"We work with our cadets to run test purchasing of knives at retailers around Sussex, ensuring retailers are complying with the rules around selling knives, which is a key focus for this week.
"We are continuing to work hard to target and disrupt prolific offenders, providing high visibility patrols in town centre hotspot crime areas and using stop and search proportionately and appropriately to remove weapons from the streets.
"We are enforcing the ban on owning dangerous weapons like Zombie knives and Ninja swords. We conduct knife sweeps to search for hidden or discarded weapons. Always there are knife amnesty bins where people can safely dispose of dangerous or unwanted knives and blades at police stations across Sussex, no questions asked.
"We are committed to tackling knife crime every day of the year, not just during Sceptre week, to make the streets of Sussex safer.
"Every knife taken off the streets, is a potential life saved."
Sussex Police and Crime Commissioner Katy Bourne said: "The recent knife attack on a train in Cambridgeshire, which left multiple people injured and communities shaken, is a stark and painful reminder of the devastating impact knife crime can have.
"Although we have seen a 10% reduction in recorded knife crimes across Sussex, we cannot be complacent.
"One weapon on our streets is one too many.
"I’m pleased to see that Sussex Police, alongside partner agencies, are taking decisive action to make our communities safer.
"Their work with schools, colleges, youth services, retailers and community groups is raising awareness about the real dangers of carrying a knife and preventing harm before it happens.
"My Safer in Sussex Fund recently awarded a £5,000 grant to the Sussex Community Development Association whose work with the Newhaven Youth Outreach Partnership delivers targeted engagement in parks and public spaces to address safety concerns among young people, including knife crime.
"We know that most young people don’t carry knives but, for those who do, we want to make it clear: carrying a weapon doesn’t make you safer. In fact, it puts you at greater risk.
"Please lose the knife, not a life."
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