6 July 2009, 09/137
Tackling cross border crime is to become our daily
business
A four-day blitz to catch offenders travelling to other areas to
purposely commit crimes has been hailed a success following 30
arrests.
West Lancashire Community Safety Partnership helped to fund the
initiative, which saw police officers from Lancashire, Merseyside
and Greater Manchester join forces to target cross border
criminality.
One of West Lancashire’s biggest priorities is to tackle serious
acquisitive crimes such as burglary, car theft and robbery. Around
half of these offences are actually committed by people travelling
into West Lancashire in pursuit of their criminal activities, so
the idea was to stop them in their tracks!
During the operation, which ran from 22 June to 25 June, more
than 60 officers from the three forces were out patrolling
motorways and other routes into West Lancashire plus rural and
affluent parts of the borough that are most at risk.
It resulted in:
-
30 arrests for offences including serious acquisitive crime,
drug supplying and drink driving
-
500 vehicle stop checks, which resulted in a number of vehicle
seizures and the confiscation of cash and drugs
Cllr Paul Greenall, Portfolio Holder for Community Safety, said:
"We have a lot of offenders coming into West Lancashire from other
areas to commit crimes such as burglary and theft. We wanted to
help fund this initiative to show that we mean business when it
comes to this type of crime and that we won’t tolerate cross-border
criminality. I’m sure it will also increase community reassurance
that we will do all we can to protect our residents’ quality of
life.
"It’s very important that we work with neighbouring police
forces - criminality has no barriers and we need to work
effectively with all appropriate partners."
The operation has been so successful that patrolling the borders
will now form part of daily police business to tackle the threat of
cross border criminality.
Chief Inspector Dean Holden from Lancashire Police, said: "This
joint operation sends out a strong message that offenders using our
roads won’t be making a quick get-away because we will arrest those
who cross county borders to commit crime.
"This operation has not only helped to improve public confidence
but also helped to reduce crime and prevent some offences being
committed. That’s why we will continue to patrol our borders to
deny criminals the use of our roads and prevent crime in our
neighbourhoods."
The West Lancashire Community Safety Partnership is a group of
agencies working together to tackle crime, disorder and the fear of
crime. It includes West Lancashire Borough Council, Lancashire
Constabulary, Lancashire County Council, Lancashire Fire and
Rescue, and Central Lancashire Primary Care Trust.
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