The new Clear, Hold, Build initiative, known locally as Operation Tetbury, will see a dedicated neighbourhood policing team work closely with Rochdale Council, local support services, visitors, and the local business community to understand the root causes of the issues which are affecting them the most.
The three-phase initiative will see police pursue criminals to clear the area, hold the location using a variety of police, civil and regulatory powers to prevent criminals returning, and work with partners and local organisations to build a prosperous community people feel proud to visit, work, and live in.
The team will regularly engage with local partners and residents to discuss all manners of problems that they may have encountered: shoplifting, aggressive begging, drug use, off-road bikes, graffiti, and other forms of behaviour that can cause misery to people’s lives.
We will also work with offenders to help them with the issues that may be influencing their behaviour and decision making, providing support, and signposting them to specialist support services so that we can holistically tackle the root causes and benefit longer term changes for future sustainability.
So far, the team have identified several perpetrators and issued them with Criminal Behaviour Orders which prohibit them from entering the town centre or certain shops where they have shoplifted from. If they breach the order, they may be subject to arrest.
For younger, lower-level perpetrators, the team will work with local youth services and other organisations to divert them into productive activities in their communities. The aim is to give them opportunities to make better choices and ensure they don’t get drawn into a cycle of escalating criminality, which helps us reduce crime and anti-social behaviour in the long term.
The policing operation will be led by Inspector Meena Yasin, whose team have been working in the Freehold neighbourhood to eradicate gang activity and exploitation. Their work has been nationally recognised, and the new team vow to bring the same vigour to Rochdale town centre.
Inspector Meena Yasin from our Rochdale district said: “Through a combination of targeted enforcement using criminal, civil and regulatory powers, this operation will see police and partner agencies clear an area of crime and anti-social behaviour, hold that location to prevent other criminality from filling the void, and build resilience so the area is less susceptible to crime and criminal groups operating in the area.
“We know that incidents can often go unreported, which is why we are committed to working with local businesses to build strong lines of communication to ensure we can tackle the issues they are facing by allocating the appropriate resources and measures.
“This is the starting point of a long-term project, but we have already seen results with a number of arrests for drug dealing and shoplifting, and we will continue to build on this.”
Information from the community continues to play a vital role in the success of this work and we would urge anyone who knows anything that could assist us to get in touch by calling 101, or anonymously if needed, via the independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.
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