Senior Officer Hails Operation Christmas Crackdown In Hereford

Inspector Bob Barnett has hailed the success of Operation Christmas Crackdown across Herefordshire on Friday (16 December).

Operation Christmas Crackdown was a week-long West Mercia Police campaign that was launched ahead of Christmas to target those individuals who cause the most harm within society and ensure that, where possible, offenders are removed from the community and cannot cause misery to others over the festive period.

More than 50 officers were involved in Friday's activities in Herefordshire, carrying out intelligence-led roadside checks, finding and arresting people who are wanted on warrants, and executing search warrants.

As a result of the work done on the day, a total of 17 people were arrested in relation to a number of offences including criminal damage, theft, possession of drugs, harassment and fraud.

Speaking about the success of the operation, Inspector Barnett - who played a key role in organising the work on Herefordshire - said:

"Operation Christmas Crackdown was all about taking firm action against those people in our community who cause harm, bring fear and commit crime. We wanted to send out a very strong message to these people and to show them that the police and communities of Herefordshire will not tolerate it.

"We are confident the arrests we made on Friday will reduce the number of problems we see over the next couple of weeks and it's pleasing that we have already seen a reduction in crime over the weekend.

"During the course of Friday we executed nine warrants in total, conducted more than 40 breath tests on drivers - all of which proved negative I'm pleased to report, arrested 17 people and also dealt with six more individuals who came into custody to answer police bail.

"Our own Force Operation Support Team (FOST) and Vehicle Examiners also ran an Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) operation in south Herefordshire - in conjunction with colleagues from Gwent Police, Dyfed Powys Police, Gloucestershire Police and VOSA - to target those motorists who use vehicles to commit crime, or who don't have insurance or other documents.

"This operation saw 15 more breath tests conducted, while 2 Fixed Penalty Notices were handed out for tax related matters and two vehicles were seized for being driven with no insurance or by drivers without a valid licence.

"We are very pleased with the results achieved on Friday but I'd like to reassure people that although Operation Christmas Crackdown specifically has ended, we immediately built on its success with the introduction of Operation Christmas Presence on Friday and Saturday night across the county.

"As usual, Operation Christmas Presence will run throughout the festive period and it will once again see an increased policing presence out and about at night in our towns to ensure that people have a happy and safe Christmas and New Year.

"Although it is a sad fact that there are small minority of people in Hereford who are committing crime, through Operation Christmas Crackdown we wanted to send a clear message to them that we will not hesitate to charge offenders wherever possible.

"I'd also like to remind local people that we need support from our communities to help us fight crime and therefore and we urge local people to contact the police if they see anything suspicious which might be linked to crime.  Just pick up the phone and call the non-emergency 101 number.  Tell us in confidence and we will check out what is going on."

Inspector Barnett also urged people to use the anonymous Crimestoppers number, 0800 555 111, where information can be left without giving an identity and where a reward may be paid.

Issued: Monday 19 December, 2011