Sixteen people were arrested during a day of police action across South Worcestershire yesterday (Tuesday 23 April).

Drugs warrants, teams targeting organised crime and priority suspects, high visibility street patrols and road safety operations all formed part of the latest Operation Forefront Day.

Officers began at midnight with an operation to target cargo theft and lorry crime linked to organised crime at Strensham Services at junction 7 of the M5. A car suspected of being involved with caravan theft was stopped but no-one was arrested.

Drugs warrants were executed in dawn raids on Saddlers Walk in Brickfields, Worcester, where one man was arrested for being concerned in the supply of class A drugs and Canterbury Road, Worcester, where no arrests were made but two motorbikes were seized. The bikes are suspected of being linked to anti-social behaviour in the area.

In Rynal Place in Evesham there was an early morning warrant with a man and a woman arrested for possession with intent to supply class A drugs. Heroin with an estimated street value of £300 was seized together with mobile phones, scales, knives, and related drugs paraphernalia.

Safer Neighbourhood Team officers followed up the raids with reassurance patrols in the local areas concerned.

In addition to the warrants, our Operational Policing Unit (OPU) response cars and motorbike teams were out in force looking for motorists who were in breach of the ‘Fatal Four’ - speeding or inappropriate speed; distractions, such as mobile phones; driving under the influence of drink or drugs and not wearing a seatbelt. The patrols were carried out on New Road, Worcester and the A4440 around Warndon and St. Peters in Worcester.

In the city centre, OPU teams clocked 13 offences - four mobile phone offences, three seatbelt offences, three cars with illegally tinted windows, one vehicle with a defective tyre, stopped one driver for careless driving and one for having no insurance.

Later, on the A4440 Whittington Roundabout to St Peters Roundabout in Worcester, 11 speeding offences were recorded with motorists exceeding the 60mph limit. The highest recorded speed in just 45 minutes was 85mph. OPU will be returning to the site in due course.

The offending drivers were given words of advice and/or traffic offence reports (TORs) which will be dealt with by the central ticketing offence and may result in court appearances for some.

Officers from our Problem Solving Hubs also joined in the day with a focus on hate crimes and licensing. 10 Ask for Angela licensed premises visits were conducted with positive results.

Nine vape selling shops were visited in Droitwich with our partners in Worcestershire Trading Standards. The visits found underage children were sold vapes by five of the premises. Those involved have had appropriate advice and will receive follow-up checks.

In Worcester city centre a bike-marking event proved successful as SNT officers engaged with members of the public alongside our partners at Worcester BID.

Across Warndon, Evesham and Malvern, our Safer Neighbourhood Teams targeted wanted suspects, carried out patrols and engaged with members of the public.

They were also signing people up to our Neighbourhood Matters website to keep people in touch with what’s going on in their community.

In Evesham, officers were dispatched to seek and locate a 12-year-old boy who had been reported missing. We are pleased to report he was quickly found and reunited with his family.

In Malvern and Upton-upon-Severn, neighbourhood surveys and cycle patrols were conducted.

And in Kempsey, there was a Home and Property Security crime prevention roadshow with our partners at Malvern Hills District Council.

The day was a success with 16 arrests overall, £700 of drugs including heroin, cannabis, ketamine, and ecstasy were seized and 24 traffic offence reports (TORs) issued.

The arrests included those for drug dealing, stalking, sexual offences, domestic abuse, multiple thefts, theft of motor vehicle, fraud, and harassment.

A total of 52 offences were recorded across the whole LPA, 36 investigations detected with more to follow, multiple SNT reassurance patrols in towns and cities and villages and 24 TORs issued.

South Worcestershire Local Policing Commander, Superintendent Gareth Morgan, said: “This successful day of action put the spotlight on the work South Worcestershire Local Policing Area carries out to protect the public not just on days like this, but every single day of the year.

“We are here 24/7 to protect and serve the public we but they too have a very important part to play in helping to keep our communities in South Worcestershire safe, as they are our extra eyes and ears in the ongoing fight against crime.

“Criminality of any kind will not be tolerated by West Mercia Police, and I hope the success of this intensive day of action will send that message to potential offenders.”

South Worcestershire is the fourth LPA to take part in Operation Forefront, which is the name given to the day of action. Over the coming months Local Policing Areas across the force area will continue to run a dedicated day of action under Op Forefront.

A good way to stay in touch with what’s going on in your community is to sign up to Neighbourhood Matters via our website Neighbourhood Matters | West Mercia Police