Drop in crime a year on from multi-agency initiative in Middlesbrough
Project Orme was introduced around 12-months ago
The first anniversary of a multi-agency initiative to tackle organised crime and improve the lives of residents in East Middlesbrough has shown drops in crime across the area.
Figures show that over 12 months (November 2024 to November 2025), there's been an 11% drop in total crime in the area, which equates to 556 fewer victims of crime.
Drugs, weapons and cash have all been seized as part of Project Orme, which launched in the TS3 area (Berwick Hills and Pallister, Park End and Beckfield and Brambles and Thorntree) in December 2024, with the aim of helping to rejuvenate East Middlesbrough.
The project works together with residents and supported by agencies including Cleveland Police, Middlesbrough Council, Thirteen Group, Cleveland Fire Brigade, educational establishments, Probation Service, Youth Justice, Public Health, North East Ambulance Service (NEAS) and the North East Regional Organised Crime Unit Network (NEROCU).
Project Orme has also seen a 15.5% drop in reports of violence offences in the area.
Officers carried out 242 stop searches of people in the area in the twelve months from November 2024 to November 2025. They also arrested 58 people and charged 20 of those.
2,000 individual deals of drugs including cocaine, heroin and cannabis were recovered, as well as 14 weapons and £22,175 in cash.
Superintendent Marc Anderson said: “We are making some great progress for the residents and local businesses.
“There have been 556 fewer victims of crime in the last twelve months, with large amounts of drugs and weapons removed from the streets of TS3. The proactivity between partners and the police has led to great results, but we could never have achieved any of this without working closely with the local community.
“My thanks go to those people in the community, neighbourhood teams and partners from all agencies who have really come together to make big improvements in the area.”
Middlesbrough Mayor Chris Cooke said: “Project Orme has shown that when communities and partners pull together, we can make a real difference.
"We needed to confront the criminality which has plagued East Middlesbrough for too long and support the vast majority of people who don't deserve having to put up with it.
"I want to thank all of our staff, our partners and most importantly residents who have stepped up and done something positive to make things better.
"We will build a safer, stronger Middlesbrough for everyone but there's still more to do - that's why in my budget, we're committing to strengthening CCTV, co-operating more closely to free up the time of police officers and investing in legal services to ensure more cases get to court."