More than £80,000 seized and 70 arrests made so far in ongoing operation to tackle violence
More than £80,000 seized and 70 arrests made so far in ongoing operation to tackle violence.
Violence suppression activity has seen officers from the Met’s Violent Crime Taskforce, local borough officers, and colleagues from City of London Police’s Road Crime Team and British Transport Police, target offenders involved in violent crime and organised criminality.
Officers used Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) technology to identify criminals using the road network, which between Tuesday, 14 April and Wednesday, 13 May, resulted in:
– 70 arrests for offences including: possession of knives; offensive weapons; firearms, possession with intent to supply drugs, money laundering and recall to prison
– More than £80,000 cash seized
– Seven knives recovered
– Two firearms recovered
– Eight offensive weapons recovered
– A quantity of class A and B drugs seized.
The operation, which took place across the whole of London, has been extended for a further three weeks due to its success.
Some of the Met’s newest recruits have also been involved in the operation, and in one evening alone they made five arrests for drugs and driving offences.
Chief Inspector Jim Corbett, who led the operation, said: “Suppressing violence remains our top priority, and this activity was all about denying criminals access to operate on, or return to, the road network.
“The results are fantastic. A number of offenders have been apprehended, and we have now extended the time frame for activity due to the positive results that we are seeing.
“I would like to thank everyone involved, from the Met, City of London Police, and British Transport Police, who have shown huge dedication in bearing down on violence, even in these unprecedented times.
“Our work to suppress violent crime does not stop here, we are all working around the clock to crack down on violence in all its forms to make our resilient city safer.”
Officers need to hear from anyone who has information about crime, those who carry a weapon, or those who exploit others for gain or revenge, while putting young people’s lives at risk.
Community intelligence can be used to great effect to not only detect, but also prevent crime, keep London safe and save young lives.
