Police News - Rochdale North

Insp Michelle Hughes

Inspector Michelle Hughes says: "It has been a busy week again for the Rochdale North Neighbourhood Team.

"Our priorities at present are tackling burglaries and ensuring we continue to support victims of domestic violence, whilst doing what we can to target offenders and holding them accountable for their actions.

"We had eight reports of burglaries during the past week, of which four have been committed in the town centre."

Breakdown of burglaries per beat:

Central-2
Bamford- 0
Norden-1
Spotland and Falinge-0
Healey-1
Milkstone and Deeplish-0
Town Centre-4

"Our officers are undertaking daily checks on suspects and giving attention to the hotspot areas, and we continue to target offenders via our ‘Dark nights’ burglary operation."

Closure notice secured as part of Operation Retriever

"You may have read recently about operation retriever, an investigation lead by Rochdale North into alleged human trafficking, which resulted in warrants being executed throughout Rochdale and numerous arrests.

"As part of the operation we have been able to utilize new anti-social behaviour legislation to obtain a closure notice on a property which it is alleged has been used for the purpose of human trafficking.

"This is the first time these new powers have been used in the borough of Rochdale, and will result in the property being closed for a period of at least three months."

Recent Arrests

A 25-year-old male has been charged with Burglary, he was remanded to court and appeared at Bury and Rochdale magistrates court on 17 November 2014.

A 24-year-old male has been charged with Breach of Anti-social behavior order, he has been bailed to attend Bury and Rochdale Magistrates court on 5 December 2014.

A 17-year-old male was arrested on 20/11/14 on suspicion of affray; he has been bailed to attend Bury at a later date, pending further enquiries.

A 28-year-old male was arrested on 20 November on suspicion of a domestic violence related assault. He is currently in custody and will be interviewed by officers later today.

Crime Prevention

"Recently in Rochdale town centre we have had an increase in reports of pickpockets. During the festive shopping season most of us enjoy buying gifts for the people we care about. However, for pick-pockets it is an opportunity to work in a tightly crowded environment to steal your valuables. Shopping centres, public transport and market places are all pick-pocket hotspots at his time of year. See below tips on how to beat pickpockets. Keep purses secure and where possible carry wallets in an inside pocket."

Zip up hand and shoulder bags

Carry bags in front of you with flaps against your body. Keep straps short and bags tucked under your arm. Don’t display jewellery. Don’t show your money — keep it safely in your pocket

At this time of year we also like to remind people, not to leave presents in view when out buying gifts. We know that a high percentage of crime is opportunistic, and can be prevented by taking some simple precautions.

• Don’t leave presents in full view on the back seat when out shopping. These can be tempting to thieves. Lock them away out of sight in the boot.
• Always lock your car and make sure windows are closed, even if you’re away from your vehicle for just a few minutes. Use a steering lock if possible.
• Never leave your keys in the ignition whilst your vehicle is unattended, even for a few minutes. Opportunistic thieves will often steal cars that have been left with the engine running to defrost the windows.
• Don’t leave any valuables in the glove compartment. Take bank cards, mobile phones and satellite navigation systems with you. These items are on a car thieves’ shopping list.
• Make sure you park in a well-lit area or in an attended car park.