Blitz on crime hailed success (From Stourbridge News)

Blitz on crime hailed success

9:43am Friday 2nd February 2007 in Local

A MAJOR police crackdown in Stourbridge has been hailed a success, resulting in five arrests for alleged drug offences.

Officers from Stourbridge teamed up with West Midlands Police Traffic Unit for an operation targeting speeding and other motoring crime around the ring road on Friday.

Using hi-tech number plate recognition systems around 40 staff, including car crime specialists plus a drug and firearms dog, were on hand to take a closer look at suspicious cars.

During the three-and-a-half hour blitz, 51 cars were pulled over with 11 towed away for alleged tax and insurance offences.

Among those arrested for alleged possession of drugs was a 19-year-old male who is helping police with enquires after they discovered a large quantity of ecstasy.

The operation was a direct response to concerns raised at Police and Communities Together (PACT) meetings in Stourbridge over the past weeks.

Sergeant Sharon Dalton, from Stourbridge police, said: "It was a good day which resolved a lot of issues and we got some good results."

Cops sealed off a section of car park at the Mill Race Lane Trading Estate as a base for their investigations and deployed police motorcyclists around the ring road to escort drivers to the site.

Also on site was a new fingerprint recognition van which can instantly take prints from suspects if identity is in doubt and compare the results with a police data base.

Cops have promised similar clampdowns in the near future and Stourbridge officers will be on hand to listen to residents' crime concerns at the next PACT meeting, set for Stourbridge Town Hall at 11am on Saturday February 3.