Dedicated police car to attend burglaries

The new burglary car which will be staffed by PC Paul Manley and PC Diane Hancock.

A new police car dedicated to tackling burglary will be attending incidents across Rochdale, Hey wood and Middleton.

The specially liveried vehicle, which will be staffed by two constables, is an integral part of Operation Ulysses which aims to reduce burglary across the borough.

The car will attend break-ins as quickly as possible, and is fitted with crime-scene preservation kits and home security packs which can be given to victims and their immediate neighbours.

The team using the car has been given additional training on investigating burglary, and they will revisit victims two weeks after a crime has been committed to give further reassurance and advice.

Officers who run the burglary car will also target those people whom intelligence suggests are criminally active, and as a deterrent they will make frequent visits to their homes.

Inspector Chris Walker, who oversees the running of the car, said: “The aim of the burglary car and having dedicated officers to deal with this type of crime is to ensure we maximise every investigative opportunity during our first visit with the victim. This will increase our chances of identifying an offender and solving the crime, while providing the victim with reassurance and improving public confidence in the police.”