Regional Roads Policing Team Seize £5m

Thu, 11 February 2010 Courtesy of: North Yorkshire Police

The Team was set up in July 2008 with a remit to deny criminals the use of roads in Yorkshire and the Humber and to stop offenders crossing force boundaries to commit crime. Between September 2008 and January 2010, the Regional Roads Policing Team have seized cash, assets, drugs and weapons and recovered stolen vehicles and property from criminals who are using the regions roads.

Over the past 16 months the team have arrested 681 people, seized over £800,000 worth of Class A drugs and over £100,000 worth of Class B drugs. They have recovered over £1.5 million worth of stolen vehicles and nearly £700,000 of stolen property. They have seized assets to the value of over £500,000, cash to the value of £348,590 and almost £1 million worth of vehicles under Proceeds of Crime Act.

Regional Roads Policing Commander Chief Inspector Mick Hunter said “The Regional Roads Policing team have been working hard in support of local neighbourhoods by arresting criminals, searching their houses, taking their cars and seizing their ill-gotten gains. Our aim has been to make it uncomfortable for the criminals; they will no longer be able to transcend force boundaries to get away with committing crime.”

“we are working together to utilise innovative technology and specialist skills”

North Yorkshire, South Yorkshire, West Yorkshire and Humberside Police forces have been working together over the last two years to build capacity and capability in specialist and strategic areas of policing. Joint working between the forces seeks to provide a resilient regional capability to support local policing. They are collaborating to identify efficiency and productivity savings through improved practices, joint procurement and harmonising training and support areas where this provides advantages.

The temporary Deputy Chief Constable for Yorkshire and the Humber, Mark Whyman, said “The Regional Roads Policing team has effectively demonstrated some of the benefits of working across force boundaries, as criminals become more mobile and exploit technology, we are working together to utilise innovative technology and specialist skills. This is £5 million taken from criminal activity that makes sure crime doesn’t pay.

“My job is to promote the benefits of collaboration, command regional operations, and deliver value for money to the four forces of Yorkshire and the Humber, which represents about 10 per cent of UK policing. The forces and authorities of Yorkshire and the Humber are committed to meeting the challenges of the 21st century in a cost effective way.

The Regional Roads Policing Team is the first operational team created by joint collaboration with officers and staff seconded from each of the four police forces of Yorkshire and the Humber. The team was set up in July 2008 with a clear strategic vision to create a hostile environment for criminals that use the road network and cause significant disruption to their illegal business enterprises, from burglary, to drugs, to high value vehicle theft, to people trafficking. It is committed to supplying additional capability to the four police forces of the region wherever needed across the whole of Yorkshire and the Humber.

Operating as a roads crime unit the success of the team is due to a combination of highly trained officers deploying specialist skills, sophisticated in-car ANPR technology, and intelligence led information supplied by the Regional Intelligence and in-force intelligence bureaux.

The Regional Roads Policing Team is one of the first of its kind in the country with operational units based at Wakefield, Sheffield and Tadcaster and an Operations & Planning unit based in Wakefield. Each team has ten officers led by a Police Sergeant and is at the forefront of regional working, combining the resources of the four forces and collectively giving them better capacity and capability to deal with crime for the benefit of people within the region.

The Regional Programme Team is set up to coordinate the vision of the four Police Forces and four Police Authorities of Yorkshire and the Humber (YaTH) to work together to build capacity and capability in specialist and strategic areas of policing, particularly protective services. Collaborative working will complement and enhance local policing, adding value and improving public confidence for the overall benefit of the Region.