A CRACKDOWN on wanted criminals saw 43 rounded up in Bolton in just one week.

Police were assisted by special tactical units throughout last week in a concerted push to make arrests. Suspects were arrested on suspicion of sexual assault, domestic abuse, threats to kill, harassment, theft, burglary, dangerous driving and the possession of indecent images. The force-wide Operation Olympus saw 362 suspects arrested throughout Greater Manchester.

Two men, aged 33 and 41, were caught in Bolton on Thursday by officers executing European arrest warrants.Greater Manchester Police committed 150 specialist officers to support the Bolton division, with tactical aid, intercept teams, mounted units and ANPR (Automatic Number Plate Recognition) all involved.

Supt Craig Thompson, operation lead, said: “This operation is all about targeting those criminals who cause the most harm to innocent members of the community. “The safety of our residents is paramount and during this week of action, there will be nowhere to hide for those who think that criminality is acceptable. “We have used every resource available to find these criminals and bring them to justice for their crimes.”

On Thursday, June 25, officers in Bolton arrested a 16-year-old boy on suspicion of assault, a 66-year-old man in connection with shoplifting and a 41-year-old man for breaching a restraining order. They were joined by two men, aged 37 and 81, arrested following a search for indecent images, an 18-year-old man suspected of sexual assault and a 31-year-old arrested on suspicion of driving while disqualified.

Several police targets were caught for skipping court or failing to abide by court orders.

Operation Olympus was launched in February, when 250 officers were used on 11 days of action in each of Greater Manchester’s boroughs.

Supt Thompson said: “Operation Olympus sends a clear message to criminals that there will be no hiding place for them and that the safety of our community comes first and will always be our priority. “We leave no stone unturned and use all of our disruption tactics to make life difficult for them.

Source: The Bolton News

Hucknall homes are much safer and less likely to be burgled this year than they were last year as police continue to crack down on the culprits. Residents across the town should feel reassured that police figures show that the number of reported burglaries has dropped by 42 per cent when compared to the same week last year. Police say their success is down to a combination of tactics but the most significant is their working partnership with the community.

“We are part of the community and the community is a part of policing,” said Sgt Simon Scales of Hucknall police. “Our residents are more on-board with us more than ever before as we are experiencing greater cohesion between the public and the police and for this we want to say a huge thank you.”

Hucknall’s figures represent the most significant drop in burglaries across the whole county policing district.

“Burglary in the town is continuing to drop and the downward trend is being maintained,” added the town’s sergeant. “We have seen record breaking falls in the number of burglary offences in the past year and Hucknall is leading the way in its approach.”

This is good news for the town and its residents and reflects the commitment by the town’s police to tackle the issue head-on.

A number of tactics have been employed to reduce the crime levels across the district, not only through special operations but by maintaining a focus on the issue.

“Hucknall is like an island because of the roads in and out of the town which has made it vulnerable in the past as the majority of criminals are coming here from the city or other areas,” explained Sgt Scales. “But by closing our borders using technology, through the ANPR (Automatic Number Plate Recognition) cameras sited on the bypass, using the Fatal Four weekly operations as well as using public intelligence and targeting the criminal element, we are proactively protecting the town and its people.”

Other methods adopted by the teams include managing offenders better once they are released from prison to prevent them from re-offending, which is also reaping rewards.

“It’s about staying focused and getting the community to be more aware and report suspicious activity so we can prevent crime too.”

Ashfield District Council’s Lachlan Morrison, Labour councillor for Hucknall Central, said it was good news for the town and agreed it was thanks to partnership working.

“It’s fantastic that the police have brought these results despite suffering significant cuts to the force budget,” said Coun Morrison. “I believe the success needs to be attributed to the efforts of the police and Safer Neighbourhood Teams and the campaigns that raise awareness in our community. “Unfortunately there will always be some people who offend and it’s difficult to change their ways but the news is positive overall.”

Source: Chad

More than 40 officers from six forces were involved in the operation which used automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) technology to identify offenders travelling into Essex from the Dartford Crossing and on the A13.

Operation Alliance brought together officers from forces throughout East Anglia to pool resources for large-scale intercept events in each county. The forces visiting Essex were Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Suffolk and Norfolk.

Motorbikes, marked and covert cars and specialist units were brought together for the operation, which was centred on Moto Services at West Thurrock. A total of 73 vehicles – 10 HGVs, 37 cars and 26 vans – were taken to the services coach park for further checks.

Officers from the Essex Police casualty reduction unit were joined by roads policing colleagues and officers from the commercial vehicle unit, a dog unit and local officers.

Vehicle examiners from VOSA (the Vehicle and Operator Services Agency) were involved in checking poorly maintained vehicles while officers from HM Revenue and Customs checked vehicles for illegal fuels. A number of vehicles were found to be illegally running on red diesel and kerosene, and their drivers were fined.

Twelve vans and cars were seized for being uninsured and one vehicle was confiscated because the driver had his licence revoked in connection with an immigration matter.

Fourteen vehicles were found to have no MoTs, two people were stopped for using mobile phones and eight for not wearing seat belts. Five people have invalid driving licences. Three vehicles were stopped for being overweight.

A number of driver hours offences were detected when HGVs were examined at the check site. One driver was fined £400 and had his articulated truck clamped for 11 hours after it was found he had not taken a full break for three days.

Several commercial vehicles were subjected to immediate prohibitions for a range of defects. One van was in such a dangerous state that some brake discs fell off as it was driven on the check site.

A continental HGV was escorted to the site when the driver stopped to ask a police motorcyclist for help after hearing banging noises from his trailer. When officers opened the rear doors of the vehicle they found a teenager from Eritrea who had stowed in Calais. Officers gave him water before he was arrested into the care of the UK Border Force.

Adam Pipe, casualty reduction manager for Essex Police, said that Operation Alliance was developed to detect and deter criminals using the roads and also to improve road safety.

He added: “I hope this will be the first of many of these large-scale operations across Essex. They bring together specialist road policing officers who are skilled at using ANPR to intercept travelling criminals and drivers who flout the law by driving without valid driver documents, drive cars without MoTs and also put their own safety and the safety of others by not using seat belts or by driving while using mobile phones.”

Source: Herts & Essex Observer

North Yorkshire Police’s £1m hi-tech investment programme to tackle travelling criminals is gaining momentum with the opening of an Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) Hub.

The ANPR Hub is based in the Force Control Room with dedicated staff who will monitor and assess real time information relating to vehicles identified as being connected to criminality and build up intelligence about their movements.

This latest move is part of an ongoing £1m investment in ANPR which also includes new, rapidly deployable cameras, more mobile cameras, fixed site cameras and in-car cameras as well as the fitting of ANPR cameras to some of the force’s mobile safety cameras and the introduction of a second Road Crime Team.
North Yorkshire Police already uses ANPR which has proved to be a highly effective tool, particularly in support of Operation Hawk, the force’s campaign to protect our communities from travelling and cross-border offenders.

These new developments will allow North Yorkshire Police to increase its coverage across the county with the ANPR Hub gathering intelligence to proactively target and intercept criminals in the process of committing a crime.

North Yorkshire is the largest, single county police force in England. It has 6,000 miles of roads and borders seven other counties including four with the highest crime rate per 1,000 population. A significant proportion – around 20% – of all detected crime in North Yorkshire is committed by criminals travelling from neighbouring areas.

ANPR works by reading the registration number of a vehicle and after checking the number against a database of information, will issue an alarm if the vehicle is linked to criminality.

It is used by the police to prevent and detect crime, as part of ongoing investigations, post-incident investigations, as well as helping in the search for vulnerable missing people, wanted criminals and to target uninsured and untaxed vehicles.

Assistant Chief Constable Paul Kennedy, who is also the national lead for ANPR for the National Police Chief’s Council (NPCC), said: “This is the first phase of our programme to expand ANPR capability across North Yorkshire. Traditionally ANPR has been used to react to vehicles passing through, however our new ANPR Hub gives us the resources to use the technology in a more proactive and intelligent way. It is vital that we invest in new technology and exploit its benefits to help protect our communities and keep people safe and secure.The addition of ANPR systems to our mobile safety cameras gives us an extra crime fighting resource to help disrupt travelling criminals. However, the primary function of the mobile safety cameras remains road safety and the targeting of motoring offences.Law-abiding people have nothing to fear from the increase in ANPR cameras, but criminals should take note that they are now, more than ever before, likely to be caught in North Yorkshire. I hope the residents of North Yorkshire are reassured that we are constantly striving to improve our service and efficiency, and these latest developments have one aim – to increase protection for them and keep the area one of the safest in the country.”

The National Police Chief’s Council replaced the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) from 1 April 2015 .Julia Mulligan, Police and Crime Commissioner for North Yorkshire, added: “Investing in ANPR capability is vital to continue to keep North Yorkshire as one of the safest counties in England. It means the police are now better able to track and disrupt traveling criminals who are intent on causing harm in our communities.”

The expansion of ANPR is part of a wider programme of change and investment called the Operational Policing Model (OPM).The OPM includes a series of projects to improve efficiency across North Yorkshire Police. Technology is a major feature of the programme.

The roll out of the new, rapidly deployable cameras, additional mobile cameras, fixed site cameras and in-car cameras is taking place over the coming months.
The Operational Policing Model is an innovative overhaul of how North Yorkshire Police operates, and as well as the expansion of ANPR, includes:

• The introduction of the THRIVE model, which assesses threat, harm, risk, investigation, vulnerability and engagement, allowing NYP to tailor their service to the needs of each victim and puts officers and staff where they are needed most
• A £10 million investment in technology
• The introduction of Investigation Hubs to speed up justice and improve our service to victims
• Handheld mobile devices will be introduced enabling officers to complete records without the need to return to a police station.
• The use of video conferencing to cut down on travelling time to meetings
• A specialist deployment system to further improve efficiency and performance
• The combining of the tasking and intelligence departments to provide a more streamlined response to intelligence
• The formation of a new ‘Citizens in Policing’ board that will increase and make better use of the Special Constabulary and other volunteers
• A ‘Time for Policing’ initiative to cut bureaucracy at all levels and oversee professional development
• The setting up the force’s first dedicated Cyber Crime Unit to tackle the growing problem of online fraud and other issues such as offences against children.

Source: Harrogate Informer