The Evening Telegraph can reveal Tayside will be among the forces receiving the new equipment — and that they could be in the hands of officers as soon as July.

A spokesman for the Glasgow-based Violence Reduction Unit said, “They will be distributed proportionately across the Scottish forces, based on need.

“I can assure you that Tayside Police will have a number of these within the force area.

“They are on order just now and we hope to have them out to forces at the end of the knife amnesty.”

Although knife crime is seen as more of a problem on the west coast, politicians in Tayside have also expressed concern about a “weapon-carrying culture” among both adults and young people.

There were 389 proven cases of knife carrying and possession of an offensive weapon across the region between 1999-2003.

It also emerged earlier this month that children as young as nine were caught carrying knives in Tayside in 2005, with a total of 49 weapons seized from children in 12 months.

The Tayside force is taking part in a country-wide, month-long knife amnesty which will see disposal bins placed at police stations throughout the area.

That will be followed by an enforcement period, and the wands are expected to be in use by the time that gets under way on July 1.

They will allow officers to search for lethal weapons in the streets or at pubs and clubs, without coming into physical contact with suspects.

The VRU spokesman said the equipment had a “number of advantages”, particularly in improving safety for officers carrying out searches.

“The metal detectors are compact and very sensitive, and they mean officers can search a larger number of people in a shorter time as well,” he added.

A senior Tayside detective said they wanted to get the message across that anyone carrying a bladed weapon has a good chance of being caught.

Detective Inspector Willie Semple, of Dundee CID, said, “We welcome the fact we are getting these as part of the distribution across Scotland.

“Knife crime is not as much of a problem here as it is on the west coast, but at the same time it is not something that we take lightly.

“The message is that knife crime will just not be tolerated.”

The senior officer conceded the wands were unlikely to become part of every uniform officer’s equipment in the foreseeable future.

“But, at the same time, the more we’ve got, the more they will get used as part of the ongoing campaign,” he said.