Weapons and drugs seized during crackdown by police in Aston
Officers have been out on dedicated patrols in Aston
Weapons and drugs seized as police carry out dedicated patrols in Aston.
Officers from the Birmingham proactive crime team - Op Skybridge - have been tackling crime in Aston and supporting local communities.
Skybridge is made up of plain clothed and uniformed officers, which go to different areas of Birmingham to carry out proactive enforcement and use a range of tactics to act on issues concerning the local community.
While in Aston the team completed over 30 dedicated shifts focused on disrupting offenders, supporting our neighbourhood teams, and gathering intelligence.
During the deployment, officers made 27 arrests and conducted 34 stop searches.
Officers seized weapons including an axe, drugs including crystal meth, and vehicles linked to criminal activity.
In addition to proactive work, the team attended 119 incidents across Birmingham, with 95.8% of those attended within the required response time, highlighting the team’s ability to adjust and help with our response colleagues.
As part of the operation, a research officer from the West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner’s office, alongside youth commissioners, joined officers on patrol with Chief Superintendent Tom Joyce and Superintendent Dave Sproson.
During the patrol, officers successfully arrested a wanted man, giving the youngsters a first-hand insight into the fast-paced and unpredictable nature of policing.
The team work closely with the local neighbourhood team in each area to understand the priorities and concerns of the local people.
Sgt Gareth Johnson, from the Skybridge team, said: "The results from this deployment demonstrate the continued impact of the Skybridge team in reducing crime, targeting offenders, and keeping communities safe.
"We will continue to work across Birmingham to build on this success and respond to local priorities.
"The team work together excellently, and have shown that in each area we target, we are able to cause disruption to repeated crime.”
Operation Skybridge is a serious and acquisitive crime (SAC) team, and exclusively prevent and detect crimes such as burglary, robbery, vehicle and drug crime in the allocated area they are positioned in.