URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v02/n121/a07.html
Newshawk: Nippirt
Pubdate: Thu, 24 Jan 2002
Source: East Anglian Daily Times (UK)
Copyright: 2002 Eastern Counties Newspapers Group Ltd
Contact: eadtletters@ecng.co.uk
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/913
Website: http://www.suffolk-now.co.uk/
Author: Martin Davey

POLICE TO TARGET PERSISTENT CRIMINALS

HALF of the men stride quickly towards the front door, the others go to the back. No one says a word.

They pause at the door as one tightens his grip on the hand-held battering ram before it smashes into the wooden door frame, shattering the pane of glass and breaking the doorframe.

"Police! Stand still!" one of the plain-clothes police officers shouts, as they rush into the home of a suspected criminal.

The dawn raid is one of several carried out across west Suffolk this week as part of Operation First Impact a " a new initiative to target known, persistent offenders.

The officers in Haverhill, yesterday , raided two properties looking for a man wanted for burglary and drug dealing. In the second house, they found and arrested him.

Leading the operation was Det-Insp Stewart Sedgwick , who says the Home Office's new statistics that the majority of crime is caused by a few hardcore criminals is "something police officers have known for years".

"If you can invest time and money in getting them away from their criminality, it pays more than anything in the long run.

"But first we have to go out, put their doors in and arrest them," Det-Insp Sedgwick said.

As the police van was called to take away the prisoner, another officer commented: "They ( the criminals ) have a chance to change."

The raids in Haverhill were preceded by operations in Brandon, Bury St Edmunds and Mildenhall in which a total of nine people were arrested.

Two men were arrested in Mildenhall, on Monday, and charged with offences of shoplifting.

Five arrests were made in the Brandon area on suspicion of offences including burglary and handling stolen goods.

Having found the man they wanted in Haverhill, extensive searches were carried of the properties for drugs and stolen property.

Det-Insp Sedgwick said of the operation: "It is a success. We located a man wanted for a burglary and arrested him."

Ch Supt Mick Green, western area commander, said: "Evidence shows that it is a small minority of crime.

"Quality of life can be severely impaired by these individuals and the message Suffolk police and our partner agencies want to get across is that their behaviour will not be tolerated."

Chief Constable of Suffolk, Paul Scott-Lee, had launched Operation First Impact on Monday a " and he quoted new Home Office figures which reveal 3% of offenders commit 25% of crimes.

Briefing police officers in Bury St Edmunds, Mr Scott-Lee said: "With Operation First Impact we are going to try and identify a number of individuals who are routinely breaking the law, making life miserable for a large number of people.

"We want to come together and take out all those people at the same time."

The main focus of the operation is to disrupt the criminal activities of the most prevalent offenders in west Suffolk with police, councils and HM Customs & Excise all working together.

Mr Scott-Lee said Suffolk was seeing an increase in crimes but not an increase in the number of people committing those crimes, as Home Office figures show 10% of criminals commit half of all crimes.

The operation involves up to 50 Suffolk police officers and operates across the whole of west Suffolk.

Anyone who thinks they may know of someone who could be committing crime should contact Suffolk police on 01284 774100 or Crimestoppers on freephone 0800 555111.