Police and partners have seized weapons, made arrests, checked dozens of vehicles and seized over £10,000 of illegal goods in a blitz on street-level crime in Kirklees.
The Huddersfield and Dewsbury Town Centre Teams joined forces with British Transport Police and partners for a two-week operation tackling all aspects of anti-social behaviour (ASB) in both towns.
Operations conducted in the first two weeks of July saw officers mount a range of high visibility operations in both town centres including patrols tackling street drinking and related ASB.
Work in Huddersfield Station with British Transport Police saw officers deploy a knife arch resulting in one man being arrested on suspicion of Class A drugs and possession of illegal weapons offences.
Repeated proactive patrols were also undertaken in the St Peter’s Gardens area of Huddersfield in response to public concern about ASB and drug crime there in recent months.
Meanwhile, joint work with West Yorkshire Trading Standards resulted in £10,000 worth of tobacco seized which included 15,000 cigarettes and 800g of hand rolling tobacco.
Officers also cracked down on fake perfume sellers with one man stopped, and several boxes of fake perfume seized under the Trades Mark Act 1994.
A focus on road safety also saw Dewsbury officers join with the DVLA, DVSA and taxi licencing to check 60 vehicles, 36 of which were taxis.
Fifteen per cent of these were reported for defects, a further 14 vehicles were issued vehicle defect rectification notices for illegal number plates, and one vehicle was seized for no insurance.
Sergeant Amanda Holroyd of the Kirklees Town Centre Partnership said: “Officers have been highly active in Kirklees with partner agencies over the past two weeks conducting operations to address a full spectrum of street-level crime, and the feedback we have had from residents has been very positive.
“Street drinking and related ASB can and does cause real misery to residents and it has been pleasing to see street drinking in particular has notably reduced in both town centres compared to this point in 2022.”
Inspector Liz Lockwood of Kirklees District Police, said: “Our partnership work with BTP, West Yorkshire Trading Standards and Kirklees Council licensing colleagues has also resulted in arrests, weapon seizures and significant quantities of illegal cigarettes being seized and unroadworthy cars being dealt with.
“I want to thank those agencies for their support in what has been a really busy two weeks and hope this ongoing action continues to reassure residents that we are listening and are acting on tackling the day-to-day crime which affects them.“
Cllr Carole Pattison Cabinet Member for Safer Kirklees said: “Colleagues across the council and our partner services work hard all year to combat illegal, and antisocial behaviour. However joint operations like this enable us to maximise our shared potential and make a clear statement that anyone who thinks it is ok to act in a way that could harm others, should think twice.
“Street crime is far from victimless, not only does it impact on the well-being of those who witness it, it also leads to a negative view of our wonderful town centres which impacts the businesses that serve us. And illegal tobacco and unsafe taxis could put lives at risk. By working together with the public, we can make our town centres safer and more enjoyable places to travel to and spend time in. “
