More than 500 arrests in first year of Stoke-on-Trent crime team
City Intervention Team targets hotspot areas and repeat offenders
More than 500 suspects have been arrested in a single year by a dedicated crime team in Stoke-on-Trent.
Officers formed the City Intervention Team in September 2025, and have been targeting hotspot areas and repeat offenders across the city, in an effort to tackle the key priorities of local people and businesses, Staffordshire Police said.
The team works to reduce demand on response and neighbourhood policing by providing resource support, hotspot patrols, searching for high-risk offenders and carrying out stop-and-search operations.
This has resulted in the seizure of more than £5,000 worth of monkey dust, and around 160 proactive stop and searches.
The team also recently recovered three suspected stolen motorbikes and returned them to their owners.
Sergeant Adam Charlesworth, of the City Intervention Team, said the team is "actively reducing the workload of other officers, meaning that investigations move more quickly and victims see results much faster".
"We work to target repeat offenders in the city, such as a man who was jailed for more than three years after we investigated nine thefts and burglaries in the area," Sergeant Charlesworth said.
"Over the past year, we have seen a reduction in offending thanks to early intervention, and we are committed to continuing working across Stoke-on-Trent," he said.