Police stage cross-county crackdown targeting known criminals
Officers from Donnington Police Station in Telford spearheaded a day of action yesterday, targeting known criminals who travel across county borders to carry out their activities, as well as illegal vehicles and drivers.
Operation SHORTWAVE which was led by PC Dan Arthur from the Newport Safer Neighbourhood Team, drew in support from other officers and PCSO’s based at Donnington and Wellington Police Stations in Telford, as well as the police motorcycle team from West Mercia’s Operational Support Unit and colleagues from the Neighbourhood Tasking Team at Staffordshire Police.
Members of the Royal Military Police stationed at Parsons Barracks in Telford also joined officers taking part in the crackdown as observers to learn more about how civilian police forces operate.
PC Arthur said: “This was an intelligence led operation, primarily looking to disrupt known criminals who travel in and out of our counties intent on committing crime and to get the message directly out to them that police forces are working together to actively disrupt their activities and share information to keep all of our communities safe.
“Taking full advantage of recent advances in police technology, we were able to plot police vehicles up at strategic points from Donnington through Newport and towards Eccleshall and Stafford, plus from Weston Park to Hinstock near Market Drayton, with officers monitoring not just police radio channels but also real time alerts from control rooms and via Automatic number plate reading cameras so that vehicles could be intercepted if needed.”
He added: “Having the officers and equipment available and in situ also meant we could respond instantly to vehicles that were identified passing the monitoring cameras that had no tax or insurance, or where there was information relating to the vehicle or occupants use of it.
“We are very grateful for the assistance from and involvement by Staffordshire Police to help get the message out there that police won’t just stop when we reach a county border, and we’re also very pleased that colleagues from the Royal Military Police were able to spend some time with our teams to observe and learn more about what we do. Although we both include the word police in our titles, our roles are normally very different.”
By the end of the day a large number of vehicles had been stopped and drivers either spoken to, given advice or more formal action was taken, and three vehicles were seized for not having any insurance.
