Major rural crime clampdown nets criminals

Dozens of police officers and volunteers took part in a major clampdown on rural criminals .
A major rural crime clampdown netted criminals across numerous counties.A major rural crime clampdown netted criminals across numerous counties.
A major rural crime clampdown netted criminals across numerous counties.

Operation Checkpoint is the largest rural policing operation of its kind in the country, and saw Lancashire, Cleveland, Cumbria, Durham, North Yorkshire and Northumbria join forces to target cross-border criminals.

The six forces co-ordinated intelligence-led deployments, static vehicle checkpoints and proactive visits to vulnerable premises.

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Intelligence shows that organised crime groups from across the north of England are involved in thefts, burglaries, and handling stolen property, targeting rural areas in particular.

These criminals use their extensive knowledge of the road networks across the region in an attempt to avoid detection.

Checkpoint targets, disrupts and deters vehicles suspected of being linked to criminality by deploying officers and volunteers with expert knowledge of their local area, crime patterns, intelligence and road network, and using Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) technology.

In Lancashire, it saw officers working alongside volunteers across the whole of Lancashire.

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In Lancashire, 44 vehicles were stopped and checked. Ten vehicle and person searches were carried out. A fixed penalty notice was issued for possession of cannabis and three vehicles seized.

The operation ran from 3pm on Wednesday October 5 to 3am on Thursday October 6.