Tonight’s episode of Police Interceptors launches with a dawn drugs raid on a house which appears to be like any other until some dark secrets are uncovered inside.
In the video, Nottinghamshire Police Inspector Marcus Oldroyd, can be seen staging the operation alongside his team under the cover of darkness who gain access by sawing through the front door.
The man behind the introduction of the force’s brand new Reacher taskforce can be seen saying: “That’s one way of opening the door isn’t it…” as he lifts the door completely off its hinges!
The raid happened in the Bestwood area in January 2020. Once inside, viewers can see officers locate a hidden cubby-hole, completely tucked away which contains a suspected firearm, ammunition and a substantial amount of suspected class A drugs.
Inspector Oldroyd said: “We were surprised to eventually find something because on the face of it, it did appear like a completely normal home. But we were there for a reason, we had good intelligence in relation to the address and we would never leave any stone unturned, we don’t depart until we’ve searched every inch of a property.”
There was no one in at the time of the raid and officers carried out various enquiries before they were able to locate and arrest the occupant days later.
The suspect was charged with supply of a class A drug and possession of a firearm and ammunition. They denied the offences and are currently awaiting trial.
Inspector Oldroyd is no stranger to carrying out major drugs raids, he said: “We usually feel fully prepared and focussed… we’ve had a thorough intelligence briefing beforehand, we know quite a bit about the person behind the door, and really, you’re just anxious to get inside as soon as possible. What goes through your mind is that the longer it takes to get in, the more time there is for a suspect to hide evidence or get rid of products so there’s a real thirst to get in there as quick as you can.”
The Reacher Inspector said he enjoyed taking part in the Interceptors show: “I just felt like it was good to be able to showcase the humanistic side to cops. We’re not just about enforcing the law all the time, we’re just people living in the communities like everyone else and we come to work and do a difficult job. It’s good to be able to showcase Nottinghamshire Police in a good light and by working as a team when there are such high stakes, it builds cohesion and trust in each other, a key asset for any team to have.”
Insp Oldroyd recently spearheaded a major roll-out of the brand new Reacher policing teams for each of the 12 neighbourhood areas across Nottinghamshire.
It follows the success of his original team which was set up in the Bestwood area in April 2018 to engage with communities, tackle drug-related crime and drive-out serious organised crime groups from the area.
Since all the Neighbourhood Reacher teams were established at the beginning of October, they have brought about some serious results in each of their areas. Insp Oldroyd said: “I am immensely proud of what the teams have achieved in such a short space of time. It’s a hugely successful model which has received so much support from the local community. Reacher is based on listing to the communities and celebrating the successes of the work they’ve asked us to look at – that’s the cycle – following through our promises.”
See more from Inspector Oldroyd and the Reacher crew in tonight’s Interceptors episode on Channel 5 at 8pm.
The show also features an epic police pursuit that calls upon the assistance of the police helicopter and a man pulled over for a dodgy driving manoeuvre who is hiding a bumper bag of cannabis in his glove box alongside much more action.
