Police to continue Northumberland raids, warns Lambert

Nov 1 2008 by Dave Black, The Journal

NORTHUMBERLANDS top cop last night warned the countys criminals he would hound them continually for the next six months.

Early morning raids were mounted this week against a range of targets and Chief Supt Kevin Lambert said they would not be the last.

Criminals involved in violent assaults, house burglaries, drug dealing, vehicle thefts and other offences face being arrested and taken to court as part of a wide-ranging operation across the county, which will last well into 2009.

They can expect to be targeted by more early-morning police raids and well-planned, intelligence-led operations aimed at tackling specific crimes affecting local communities.

Operation Conquest which has been launched in response to an increase in crime in Northumberland this summer will rely on help from law-abiding citizens fed up with the criminals and troublemakers blighting their neighbourhoods.

The tough crackdown was promised last night by Chief Supt Lambert, Northumbria Polices Area Commander for Northumberland.

He was speaking after almost 40 people were arrested during two days of police raids on dozens of properties in Ashington, Blyth, Bedlington and Cramlington as Operation Conquest got under way in earnest.

They were held for offences including violence, burglary, theft and drugs as well as for failing to appear in court and breaches of community sentences.

The raids resulted in the seizure of weapons including ornamental knives, a knuckleduster and an extendable baton, illegal drugs such as 22 wraps of heroin, amphetamines, valium and cannabis and mobile phones suspected to have been used in the commission of crime.

Stolen goods including garden tools, electrical equipment, sat-nav systems, a laptop computer and bicycles were recovered, as well as pirate computer games and DVDs.

The operation was launched in response to a recent rise in crime in Northumberland, which reversed the previous downward trend of law breaking in the county.

Last night, Chief Supt Lambert said it would continue for the next six months, and would encompass all parts of Northumberland.

He said: This is a robust response to this summers increase in crime to ensure that we continue to drive crime down.

In Northumberland we have one of the best detection rates in the country and our message to the criminals is that they should think again because this crackdown will go on for six months.

This has been a very positive start, but we are determined to keep the momentum going. The fact that we have recovered these weapons, drugs and stolen property shows we are targeting the right people.

The recovery of weapons goes to the heart of what we are targeting, because violent crime is something we are very interested in cracking down on.

We are especially interested in people higher up the crime chain, including organised crime.

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