102 arrested in crime blitz

Superintendent Martin Greenhalgh wants to send a message to would be offenders that the police won’t tolerate them taking part in crime

Police have arrested over 100 people in the Rochdale, Heywood, Middleton and the Pennines this week (22 to 27 January), following 21 raids as part of the New Year’s first blitz on crime.

Officers were out in force and used a range of tactics to target known and suspected offenders through home visits, stop checks, high profile policing and the used of automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) to reassure residents and deter offenders. These strategies have captured over 102 people in the borough.

Superintendent Martin Greenhalgh for Rochdale Division, said: “This operation has helped us in showing our most prolific offenders that we are serious about making them pay for their crimes. This is just one example of how we plan on bringing them to justice.”

The week of action was organised as part of a clampdown on offenders. It is geared to driving down crime and increase convictions.

Superintendent Greenhalgh, said: “To see the arrest of so many key offenders is a great result and is a real example of how the hard work that all of our teams have put in, is paying off.

“We would like this to send a message to would be offenders that we won’t tolerate them taking part in crime.”

PCSO’s together with the councils community safety officers also visited homes, schools and shopping centre where they gave crime reduction advice, as well as offering residents free home security checks.

Residents were encouraged to register their valuables on ‘www.Immobilise.com’, a website which is a national database which can be accessed by police. It increases changes of having stolen property recovered and returned to the owner.

The council’s trading standards department have visited pawn brokers and second hand shops in a bid to track down stolen goods and gain vital intelligence.

“Registering your valuables is so important, I can’t stress enough the importance of doing this. It’s easy to use but also simplifies insurance claims and police reports,” said Superintendent Greenhalgh.

Terry Linden, cabinet member responsible for community safety at Rochdale Borough Council, added: “As a partnership we’re committed to working together to drive out crime in our borough. We know that more can be achieved by all agencies working to stop burglars in their tracks and I’m pleased we’re being successful. This operation is a fantastic result for the police and reassures our communities that offenders are being are being caught and punished.”