Police dog Luther joins the Christmas security patrols

PC Phil Monagan with Luther as a puppy

GMP is stepping up patrols to prevent cash-in-transit robberies in the run-up to Christmas and for the first time police dog Luther will be part of the team.

Luther, 11 months old, joined GMP when he was eight weeks old and will be joining the patrols with his handler PC Phil Monaghan and his other police dog Trouble, aged seven and a half. Both are black German Shepherds.

PC Monaghan said: “I have had Luther since he was eight weeks old and this will be his first Christmas on patrol joining Trouble, who I have been working with for six years. They are a great team.”

Patrols will be routinely following vans delivering and collecting cash from ATMS, banks, and shops to ensure security guards remain safe during their busiest time of the year.

Detective Superintendent Mark Smith said: “We will be keeping a close watch over the vans and using a range of specialist resources including the police dogs like Luther. Cash-in-transit robberies are serious and often violent crimes that put drivers and the wider community at risk.

“We will be working with colleagues from forces across the North West as we know the criminals will travel across the region to commit these crimes. The message is simple we are using everything we can to make it difficult for criminals this Christmas.”

Information and intelligence is shared with detectives from Titan, the regional organised crime unit and officers from Merseyside, Lancashire, Cheshire, Cumbria and North Wales.

Anyone with information about cash-in-transit robberies should contact 101 or the independent charity Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555111.