North Yorkshire Police’s crackdown on rural and travelling criminals continued yesterday (Thursday 5 June 2014) with a day of action across the county.
The Chief Constable of North Yorkshire Police made an arrest as he joined the frontline to help combat travelling criminals during the latest phase of Operation Hawk.
CC Dave Jones was on patrol with the force’s Road Crime Team on 4 June 2014, when they were alerted to a vehicle travelling through North Yorkshire carrying two men wanted for conspiracy to commit burglary.
Officers, who were stationed in Bedale at the time, set off in an attempt to locate the vehicle, a white LDV panel van. Enquiries led them to Hartlepool and the men were tracked down to McDonalds car park on Burn Road.
CC Jones apprehended one of the men and Road Crime Team officers arrested the other man. The men aged 37 and 26 have been released on police bail as enquiries continue.
CC Jones said: One of the aims of Operation Hawk is to show criminals that if they come to North Yorkshire to commit crime they will be faced with a service determined to make sure they don’t go undetected.
I was really pleased to be able to get out onto the frontline and help out my colleagues who have worked tirelessly to make the operation an ongoing success.
CC Jones made the arrest in the build up to a forcewide day of action on Thursday 5 June 2014, where he also joined officers on patrol in the Craven area.
During Thursday’s day of action police made 32 arrests as 120 officers and support staff took part in the operation.
In York officers conducted a large warrant with the Border Agency and nine people were detained under the Immigration Act.
A further four arrests were made for offences including importation of Class C drugs, domestic assault, burglary and failure to attend court.
Officers, support staff and volunteers along with partner agencies were also out and about in and around the city engaging with the public and offering crime prevention advice.
Police and council officials also conducted licensing checks at local scrap yards and conducted numerous checks on vehicles carrying scrap metal.
Officers in Selby arrested four people on suspicion of possessing Class A, B and C drugs with intent to supply during raids at two addresses in the town.
At one of the properties on Elston Avenue, a 30-year-old man and a 44-year-old woman were arrested. The man remains in custody for questioning, the woman has been released on police bail.
At a property on Westbourne Gardens, two men aged 57 and 60, were arrested. They have been released on bail as enquiries continue.
Officers were also joined by Border Watch volunteers throughout the day of action to patrol rural, cross-border areas looking out for suspicious people and vehicles.
The local Safer Neighbourhood Team also visited 29 repeat victims of commercial burglary to offer crime prevention advice along with representatives of CASAC.
Ten suspects were arrested in Scarborough as officers spent the day of action hunting down wanted people.
A number of arrests were made for offences such as burglary, theft and drugs possession.
Detectives from the Craven area travelled to Middlesbrough during the day of action to arrested three men and a woman on suspicion of defrauding an elderly man from Skipton.
It is believed that the man had two cheque books stolen from him which were used to cash cheques totalling around £12,000.
The suspects were arrested when officers conducted warrants at three properties. They have all been released on police bail as enquiries continue.
Officers made further arrests for drink driving and shop theft.
The Road Crime Team were also in action on Thursday. While on mobile patrol in the Harrogate area they stopped a silver BMW which had been seen travelling at speed on the A661 between Spofforth and Wetherby.
The occupants of the vehicle, two men in their 30s, were searched and officers located Class A drugs believed to be worth around £3,000 and a knife. The men were arrested and remain in police custody for questioning.
During a number of search warrants at addresses in Harrogate officers made two further arrests for drug offences.
In the Hambleton and Richmondshire area officers were focused on patrolling the highways looking out for drivers committing motoring offences.
During a multi-agency operation with VOSA at Scotch Corner a number of vehicles were given prohibitions of fixed penalty notices for overloading or vehicle defect offences.
Officers also issued 11 fixed penalty tickets for traffic offences, reported a motorist for dangerous driving and made an drink driving arrest.
As well as the Chief Constable, other senior officers including Deputy Chief Constable Tim Madgwick, and Assistant Chief Constable Paul Kennedy joined officers on the ground during the day of action.
ACC Kennedy, who is North Yorkshire Police’s lead for Operation Hawk, said: Since Operation Hawk began I have been extremely impressed by the commitment and dedication our officers and staff have shown to making it work.
It is very important to North Yorkshire Police that the communities we serve can feel safe and I hope the results of these days of action give them the reassurance that we are doing everything we can to protect them from the threat of crime.
As the Chief Constable’s arrest shows, if people come into North Yorkshire to commit crime we will have no hesitation in tracking those individuals down with the help of our colleagues from neighbouring forces.
Operation Hawk ensures that criminals coming into the county will find it more difficult than ever before to get out again without being detected.
Local criminals should also be looking over their shoulders because, while Operation Hawk does target travelling offenders and rural crime, our officers are also working hard to track down people committing crimes in our towns and cities.
Operation Hawk was set up at the end of July 2013, to dedicate police resources to protect residents throughout North Yorkshire and the City of York from criminals operating within their communities and from offenders travelling in from other areas.
Residents can help the operation by reporting any suspicious activity in their community to the police or Crimestoppers.
If you have any information about crime or suspicious people in your area contact North Yorkshire Police on 101 – select option 1 – and pass information to the Force Control Room.
