August policing column – Superintendent Bryan Lawton

I am pleased to report that since my last column, and with the help of the public, we have made a number of significant arrests for burglary and vehicle crime. As a result there has been a reduction in these offences compared with July last year.

The reduction of burglary continues to be our number one priority, and although the number of crimes is falling we still need everyone to remain vigilant, report any suspicious activity and take some basic crime prevention measures like locking doors and windows even when at home.

Our main vehicle crime hotspot continues to be the Rochdale Rail Station area on the edge of the town centre. The crimes are opportunistic and items stolen tend to be those left on display in vehicles, so can I ask once again that whenever you leave your vehicle unattended you remove all visible items of value.

As we are in the middle of the summer holiday period, I am aware that youth nuisance continues to cause problems for residents in a number of areas of the town. Your local Neighbourhood Policing Teams are working with our partners to tackle these problems and we have a number of operations running over the next few weeks.

In support of this work I would ask parents and guardians to take an active interest in where their children are going and what they are doing. We will continue to disperse groups, seize alcohol and use all legal powers at our disposal, but the active support of parents would assist greatly in improving the quality of life for many, and enable police officers and community support officers to focus on other crimes.

I look forward to further reductions in crime over the next month.

Tune in to the police show on the first Thursday of each month from 3pm to 5pm on Rochdale’s Crescent Radio, 97FM

Neighbourhood Area Updates

North Rochdale (covering Norden, Healey, Bamford, Central, Town Centre and Spotland & Falinge)

We will continue to target offenders breaking into parked vehicles around the Railway Station and Drake Street. Officers are being deployed in the area to catch offenders and PCSOs have been handing leaflets to drivers to make them aware of leaving valuables on display in their vehicles. The council’s Community Safety Team will be using their CCTV van to deter opportunist thieves using the area from cutting through to the town centre.

Operation Halle will continue to run over the coming month to address a wide range of criminal activity in the Central ward and Falinge.

South Rochdale (covering Kingsway, Castleton, Milkstone & Deeplish and Balderstone & Kirkholt)

We are currently focusing resources on the Kirkholt estate to address anti-social behaviour, and the mobile police station will be at St Thomas’s Church from 8am-9pm on Wednesday 13 August.

Operation Buchan and Nimrod will continue to run in Castleton and Kirkholt to tackle burglary and other criminal activity in these areas.

Finally, walkabouts will be held from the following housing offices in August if people would like to make a difference in their area:

Kirkholt, 13 August, 10am and 11am
Newbold / Waitlands, 14 August, 10am
Newbold Rathbone, 20 August, 10am

Pennines (covering Littleborough Lakeside, Wardle and West Littleborough, Smallbridge and Firgrove and Milnrow and Newhey)

Police recently recovered a quantity of stolen property after arresting a man who they believed was responsible for numerous burglaries in the area, and officers have also uncovered several cannabis farms after carrying out drugs warrants.

And finally

We need you to…

Tell us about your issues, who's responsible and where you feel we should be prioritising our resources.

We will be working closely with our partners to deal with the issues deemed a priority for the local community.

To let us know what you see as a priority in your area, please contact us on the following numbers or email addresses, or attend one of the surgeries listed below.

North Rochdale – 0161 856 9961 / rochdalenorthpartnership@gmp.police.uk
South Rochdale – 0161 856 8549 / rochdalesouthpartnership@gmp.police.uk
Pennines – 0161 856 4556 / penninepartnership@gmp.police.uk

Forthcoming police surgeries

South Rochdale

Drop-In-Centre, 10 The Strand, Kirkholt
Friday 15 August, 10am – 12 noon

Morrisons
Friday 29 August, 4pm – 6 pm