More arrests made in Warwickshire as part of new crime crackdown

More than 90 police officers, staff and volunteers were out in force again on Saturday morning as part of Operation X, which was launched on February 4.

Following alerts from the police’s Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) system, the police team stopped around 160 vehicles at the roadside or at spots in Leamington, Rugby and Nuneaton specifically targeted under the operation - and five arrests were made for theft, possession of a class B drug, failing to stop and resisting arrest, obstructing police and drink driving. The arrests were made possible as a result of using ANPR to identify vehicles that may have been operating illegally.

It was the biggest ANPR operation the county has ever seen.

Twenty vehicles were seized and 24 taken off the road for not having insurance or road tax and/or not being roadworthy. In total 55 traffic offences were recorded throughout the day ranging from cracked windscreens to tyres’ treads being dangerously below the legal limit.

Staff from the Vehicle and Operator Services Agency and HMRC Customs were on hand at each site to check vehicles.

Inspector Dean Reid, who heads up the operations support unit at Warwickshire Police, praised the work of the special constabulary who also supported the operation.

He said: “For this particular operation, we had 41 specials on duty alongside members of the priority policing area teams and the safer neighbourhood teams.

“Warwickshire Police values the work that they do and they were a welcome addition to the teams on this particularly busy day.”

In Leamington, an arrest was made within the first half hour for a drink driving offence.

Patrols using drugs dogs were also carried out in Rugby, Leamington and Nuneaton, raising awareness of the work they can do to hunt out illegal substances.

The county’s Deputy Chief Constable Neil Brunton, who is leading Operation X, said: “Operation X is all about going the extra mile to protect communities where crime occurs the most.

“Saturday’s ANPR operation was focusing on depriving criminals the use of the road by using intelligence led technology available to us. as well as ensuring vehicles are kept to a legal standard.”