Police made arrests, confiscated drugs, weapons and illegal goods, issued fines and seized vehicles from irresponsible drivers, and carried out patrols and other activities during a day of intensive police action across Dudley on Friday (28 June).
Op Advance is the name given to our dedicated days of action dealing with the issues that matter to people in our communities across the West Midlands.
Friday’s exercise – the second of its kind in Dudley following a similar event in October last year – saw extra officers on the streets working specialist teams such as our off-road bike team, partners and volunteers to conduct patrols, carry out enforcement activities, undertake searches and to simply meet and greet people across the borough.
While a key part of Op Advance is engaging with the public, our enforcement teams continued to arrest those in the community who cause the most harm.
Throughout the day police arrested 10 people, eight of whom had been evading arrest for offences from assault and theft to harassment and breach of bail conditions.
A 23-year-old man made off from officers after he was spotted driving a vehicle on cloned plates. After driving through red lights and on the wrong side of the dual carriageway, he got stuck between other vehicles and made off on foot. But, with the assistance of the police helicopter, he was detained and found to be a disqualified driver.
A 14-year-old boy from Kingswinford was charged with possession of an offensive weapon and possession of cannabis after a stop and search on Stourbridge High Street. He was charged and bailed to appear before Dudley Magistrates’ Court on 23 July.
Police also seized thousands of pounds worth of illegal cigarettes and vapes from stores in Lye High Street, supporting Dudley Council’s Trading Standards team who had identified shops in the area as being involved in the sale and supply of these products.
During a road safety operation in Castlegate and working with partners, officers recorded 24 traffic offences such as driving while using a mobile phone, failing to keep vehicles in a roadworthy condition and jumping a red light. Police also seized eight vehicles which were being driven without insurance and tax.
Assistant Chief Constable Mike O’Hara, said of our multi-agency road safety operation:
“Working with our partners such as the DVSA, Immigration, Motor Insurance Bureau and others we pulled over lots of vehicles that were unroadworthy or had markers on them from policing perspective.
“Ultimately, criminals are on the road so it’s really important that we’re on the road with our partners enforcing.”
Officers were also on patrol in our recreational areas and greens spaces. We conducted a weapon sweep of the Dell Stadium and had a walkabout in the Fens Pool Nature Reserve following concerns about antisocial behaviour there. We also took the time to check that anyone fishing there had a licence to do so.
While there, we stopped and searched a man after we discovered he was smoking cannabis. We put him in touch with a drug referral service.
In addition to our enforcement activities, we also took the opportunity to provide crime prevention advice, offer reassurance and mix with residents across the borough.
Local neighbourhood officers were at Stourbridge Bus Station to dispense safe travel advice to commuters, schools officers talked about police work to pupils from Bramford Primary School, and we also took our police dogs Brooklyn and Bonnie to meet people at the Merry Hill Shopping Centre. We even joined a street watch and litter pick in Sedgley High Street.