GMP after hours: Wigan fight back against criminals on our roads

The last two nights saw GMP’s Wigan district, Lancashire Constabulary and Merseyside Police join forces in a bid to disrupt and deny criminals using the roads between borders.

With additional support from specialist branches across GMP, including Tactical Vehicle Intercept Unit (TVIU), the Dog Unit, Road Policing Officers, and the Drone Unit, almost 100 officers flooded the main arterial routes in and out of Wigan & Leigh to target the criminals crossing the borders to commit offences in Greater Manchester.

Over the last two nights officers were patrolling in both marked and unmarked cars to tackle those posing a danger to not only themselves but other members of the public. But this wasn’t just a traffic operation, police were also targeting drivers connected to an array of criminality such as county lines drug dealing, burglary, organised crime, and any vehicles flagged by Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR).

In total, 25 arrests were made for a number of offences including possession of an offensive weapon, driving under the influence of drugs and alcohol, assault, public order, and driving offences.

Superintendent Ian Jones of GMP’s Wigan district said: “Our objectives were to deny the criminals, and anyone else who is out to harm the public, access to our roads, and these results speak for themselves. Working alongside our neighbouring forces we show a united front against organised crime and reinforce the message that those using our roads to commit crime are not welcome in Wigan.

“Criminals don’t operate to borders, so neither will we. That’s why we’re working with our neighbouring forces and a range of local authorities, focusing our efforts on those coming into our communities to commit crimes.

“Our message is simple – if you want to use our roads to commit crime, it won’t be long before you see blue lights in your rear-view mirror, and you’re on your way to our custody suite. This wasn’t a one-off operation; it was an extension of the excellent collaborative work we already do between forces on a daily basis to further prevent and disrupt criminals across the region.”

Whilst we continue to collect intelligence on suspicious vehicles, we would also ask the community to be our eyes on the ground and report anything out of place that they see to either ourselves or Crimestoppers on 0800 555111.

You can do this completely anonymously as we don’t need to know who you are, just what you know. If you think any vehicles are connected to drug dealing, anti-social behaviour, or any other offences, please do get in contact by calling 101 or using our Live Chat function online at www.gmp.police.uk.