Operation Acquire: GMP’s Mini Police put their foot down on speeding during traffic operation in Wigan

Last week, GMP’s Mini Police attended a traffic operation in Wigan to assist officers as they keep our roads safe from crime.

As part of Operation Acquire, GMP are tackling the crimes that mean the most to you and your neighbourhood. 

This follows from the first activity in the Mini Police programme where officers showed the children how they sweep for knives in parks. A fake knife was hidden in a location and the Mini Police officers were tasked with finding it. Once uncovered, a CSI officer came to showcase how they dust for fingerprints.

The traffic operation last week was conducted on Hamilton Street in Atherton, which is very near to Parklee Primary and Atherton High School, the road runs next to the local park and the Cenotaph.

The road is a 20-mph road and is very well signposted with road speed signs on the lamp posts and written on the road. It also has speed bumps, however this does not seem to slow a lot of drivers down and there has been a longstanding issue with speeding offences on this road.

Police officers from GMP’s Wigan neighbourhood team, alongside a group of Mini Police officers conducted a speed gun operation on the road to enforce the limit.

Following an operational briefing, PC Pilling and PC Allison conducted the speed gun operation and three officers remained with the Mini Police to speak to drivers who were stopped.

Two police officers spoke to the drivers first to ask if they would be on board with having the Mini Police officers speak with them and then brought the children over in pairs to advise the driver about the speed limit and the dangers that speeding could cause.

PC Lydia Rouse, of Wigan’s neighbourhood team, said: “This was very well received, with all 21 drivers that we stopped in 45 minutes, responding well to being spoke to by the children.

“The Headteacher of the nearby school, also helped us demonstrate how we breathalyse the drivers we pulled over and I am very pleased to say she passed!

“We appreciate that people lead busy lives and may feel the need to drive over the speed limit to get from A to B but myself, alongside the mini police, urge you to think about the consequences of driving too fast.

“We work closely with our community who continue to express concerns about speeding in the area and the work we do to enforce speed limits on our roads is imperative to the safety of our communities - there is a limit there for a reason.

“The Mini Police loved the activity and learnt a lot about the dangers of speeding and road safety and this provides them with a fantastic opportunity to see what police officers do on a daily basis whilst also helping and supporting their local community and school.”