York police are drafting in mounted support to deal with city centre troublemakers this weekend.
As part of Operation Lion – an ongoing initiative targeting persistent offenders – police horses will patrol the city’s streets on Friday and Saturday night.
West Yorkshire Police’s mounted section will be providing support to officers in the city centre, who will be providing a visible presence to combat anti-social behaviour and drink-related crime.
Since Operation Lion began on 14 March 2011 police have made 20 arrests as they look to put pressure on individuals who are known to be responsible for criminal activity in and around York.
Police have been targeting people they know to be committing crime and have made a number of arrests for drug offences, burglary, robbery and theft.
Chief Inspector Dave Hannan, of York Safer Neighbourhood Command, said: “Since the beginning of the operation we have made some good arrests and have certainly let offenders know that we are around.
“We are not prepared to tolerate any criminality in the City of York, particularly from those individuals who are breaking the law on a regular basis.
“This weekend we are reinforcing our message by bringing in mounted support from West Yorkshire, deploying high-visibility patrols in the city centre and conducting more warrants at addresses we suspect are involved in criminal activity.
“The message is that we are not just going to sit back and watch people leading a criminal lifestyle, we are going to get make sure, in no uncertain terms, that they know we are aware of their behaviour.”
During a warrant conducted today (25 March) under the Misuse of Drugs act, officers discovered a cannabis grow at a property in Moorland Road.
The occupant of the address, a 46-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of cultivation of a Class B drug and remains in police custody as enquiries continue.
A further drugs arrest was made on 19 March 2011, when a 30-year-old man and a 43-year-old man were detained on suspicion of possession of Class A drugs with intent to supply.
Police stopped the car they were travelling on Kingsway West and following a search of the vehicle, officers found a quantity of what are believed to be Class A drugs. The men were taken into custody have since been released on bail as enquiries continue.
Chief Inspector Dave Hannan welcomed the arrests and said that many drug arrests come as a result of intelligence provided by the community.
He said: “We regularly receive good quality information from local residents about criminal activity where they live. Where appropriate, we act upon this information and a lot of the time it results in good arrests.
“I would urge the residents of York to continue providing us with information to help us ensure that their lives and communities are not disrupted by people who make their living through crime.”
During the course of Operation Lion, further arrests have been made for possession of an offensive weapon, criminal damage, affray and public order offences.
If you would like to report crime in your community, please contact North Yorkshire Police on 0845 60 60 24 7.
I’m defiantly filling this under not really ‘Harrogate’ News.
The site aims to cover news item in the surrounding area that may be of interest. We don’t cover smaller news items in York but I felt this was worthwhile.