A 17-year-old boy was detained by officers, and a police dog, in Eastleigh town centre yesterday evening (21 June)

It comes after CCTV operators had seen a teenage boy allegedly threaten a woman in Leigh Park at around 8.45pm with a knife.

Officers were quickly at the scene, including Police Dog Blaze, approaching the boy from various directions in the park.

Due to the serious nature of the incident, and the possibility of the boy having a knife, Police Dog Blaze was deployed towards him – causing the boy to surrender on the floor – allowing officers to successfully detain him.

A search by officers uncovered a knife on the boy, which was seized as evidence.

A 17-year-old boy from Eastleigh was subsequently arrested on suspicion of being in possession of a bladed article in a public place.

He remains in custody at this time.

Knife and violent crime remains a district priority across Eastleigh and Hedge End – focusing on tackling and disrupting the importation and supply of knives, targeting those who carry and use knives and preventing people from engaging in knife crime.

Police urge communities to keep reporting intelligence around knife crime so that together they can continue to tackle this threat in society.

To do this people can call police on 101 or report online at https://www.hampshire.police.uk/

If you are a young person concerned about someone carrying a knife, or that someone will get hurt, you can tell us without having to say who you are, by reporting anonymously online using the Fearless website – www.fearless.org