AIBU to report teens carrying a sword?

[Vacantstare]

AIBU to report teenagers carrying a weapon? And how would I do this as I've no idea who they were, I only the exact time I saw it happen.

I was taking my toddler to the park and a group of balaclava wearing teenagers were hanging by the entrance. One of them had a sword (!) and was chasing another boy with it. I couldn’t believe what I saw and thought it must be a long stick but as I got closer I saw that it was indeed a real sword.

We live in an area where there have been two fatal gang related teenage stabbings in the last couple of months so it’s quite frightening

Why didn’t you call the police if you saw someone wearing a balaclava chasing someone else with a sword? I cannot understand the thinking behind that at all.

Of course you report it… That’s a 999 emergency - if you did it at the time.

Report it now.

Not much point reporting it now is there? Why didn't you call 999 at the time you saw a teenager chasing another one with a weapon?

YANBU.

A weapon with a blade that size is lethal. It needs reporting. Give the police as much information as you can. No. of youths, rough description, anything you can.

They were chasing each other playfully - they were part of the same group. They were all laughing together. And then they all fled the area and I had my toddler to try and keep safe so wasn't sure what to do with very limited information.

Sorry I wasn't clear - please read my update

Always report things like this OP. Its not too late, others may have reported there or elsewhere and more intelligence the better

Thank you. Where would I do this as the forms online look like you need to know names, addresses etc!

Just phone 101 now

OP the others are right you should have called 999 if you saw someone with a real sword, regardless of it looking playful. There's almost nothing you can do now though still report on the non emergency line as they may be able to find cctv

Yes call 101 with date time and place description and number of youths and say you were unable to report at the time.

You don't need to explain yourself I would have done the same as you in this situation .

All you can do now is call the non emergency number and tell them what you saw and where so they can at least patrol the area.

Is this in Nottingham by any chance. My friend saw a gang of teenagers chasing another down the street the other day with a machete!

Call the non emergency number OP.

Think about the time you saw them, which direction they ran off in, number of youths, any clothes or description, ethnic groupings.

Obviously didn’t try hard enough to keep your toddler safe!
To keep your toddler safe you should have reported it immediately to the police, your toddler wasn’t safe with those lads running around with a sword

Wow, of course it’s not unreasonable to report that. Police can track CCTV and find out - just ring 101 now and report it

Sorry OP but what the hell were you thinking? No one carries a blade around there is no excuse.This needed stopping not coming on for advice on social media.There jest could just as easily turn into them killing someone.Give me strength.

It's in Bristol. It's scary isn't it

For Gods sake, do you really have to ask? I despair, I really do 😐

I'm calling 101 now. I think I was just in shock and now know I was wrong not to call 999 straight away. If I saw someone attacking someone I would obviously phone straight away but for some stupid reason I didn't know if carrying a weapon was reason enough to call police there and then. Feel so stupid now. I hope they don't hurt anyone with it as I'll feel so guilty:(

I have PTSD and freeze in situations like this. I regret not calling the police at the time but I didn't know what they could do as they fled and I didn't see them attack anyone. I now know how stupid I was and I've phoned 101 to report what I saw.

Well its illegal to carry a weapon, so yes you would report that

Anyway, lesson learned for next time

It is illegal to carry any size fixed blade or a folding non fixable pocket knife over 3 inches long without reasonable cause. Even a metal butter knife or a tent peg can be classed as a weapon. Reasonable cause would be a chef on his way to work with a roll of knives, a read her on the way to work with some scissors, a builder with a Stanley knife but they must be packed away and not carried in plain view. If the chef then went to the pub he would no longer have reasonable cause to be carrying the knives and then on dodgy ground.

It's easy for others to say what they do in that situation from the comfort of their house.call 101 that weapon will be stashed somewhere rather than kept at home hopefully police find it.