PSNI and An Garda Siochana unite in successful border ‘criminality operation’
Police in E District, which includes the area of Newry and Mourne, in conjunction with their colleagues in An Garda Siochana on the Dundalk/Monagahan side of the border conducted a three day operation at the the end of September.
The operation was targeted at cross border criminality, with specific focus on deterring and detecting criminal activity and increasing confidence in policing.
Over the course of the operation over 80 vehicle checkpoints were conducted, resulting in a number of stop and searches involving specific people and vehicles.
Thirteen people were arrested for crimes ranging from possession of drugs and fraudulent goods to road traffic matters and twelve uninsured vehicles were seized and taken off the road.
The officer leading Operation Protect, Inspector O’Connor, spoke to Newry Times and said:
“We are constantly looking at new and more effective ways of addressing crime in our Police District and targeted operations like this one provide a more visible police presence which deters criminals.
“It is difficult to precisely measure prevention but during the three days we are confident that we prevented a number of crimes taking place. Normal policing continued throughout this operation and targeted operations of this nature simply support our day to day role of providing personal, protective and professional policing to the community.”
The operation also enabled road closures to be implemented on main routes. Following a District investment in vehicles, equipment and training, large volumes of vehicles were filtered, enabling officers to identify and target those suspected of criminality, whilst minimising the disruption to the wider community.
Inspector O’Connor added, “We have a very close working relationship with our colleagues in An Garda Siochana and this provided added benefits. Criminals using border routes should expect more of these operations in the near future as we continue to protect the public from harm.”
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