Drugs, cash and the arrest of a violent robbery suspect were amongst the results from today’s Operation Reacher action which included a dramatic boat warrant.
The City Centre Operation Reacher Team, which launched this morning, (Wednesday 7 October) headed out to the canal parallel with London Road.
They searched a small boat believed to be linked to drug dealing in the city and recovered suspected drugs and cash.
The team, led by Sergeant Alice Bartle, said: “Operation Reacher is about proactive disruptive activity targeting criminal activity while engaging with the public and acting on their concerns,” explained Sgt Bartle.
“Today marks the first step in our commitment to the local community in Nottingham city centre and I am pleased to say that we recovered drugs, cash and a knife in our first warrant.
“Three people were questioned in connection with the incident and a woman was arrested, she has since been released under investigation.”
City centre Inspector Paul Gummer, of Nottinghamshire Police, said: “The introduction of Reacher teams across the city and county is fantastic and an excellent addition to our Neighbourhood teams.
“They’re going to be playing key roles now in policing across Nottinghamshire.”
In Sneinton, officers from the Operation Reacher team recovered a substance believed to be drugs following a warrant in Colwick Road this morning. The investigation is ongoing.
Elsewhere in the County, Mansfield Reacher officers assisted colleagues in Ashfield to help track down a man wanted in connection to a violent robbery after receiving new intelligence.
After a search lasting much of the day, officers attended an address in Vernon Road, Kirkby-in-Ashfield, at around 1.30pm and arrested a 20-year-old man wanted on suspicion of robbery.
Inspector Nick Butler, District Commander for Mansfield, said: “This is further evidence of the impact our recent uplift in numbers is having on day to day policing.
“The truth is that without these additional police officers and the greater flexibility afforded to us by Operation Reacher, this individual would probably remained at large.”
Operation Reacher was first introduced in Bestwood in April 2018 and was successful in comprehensively dismantling organised crime groups that had been blighting the area. Some £1.8m of drugs being recovered and lengthy jail sentences were handed down to dozens of criminals in its first year alone.
The county-wide expansion of the scheme marks a significant investment in proactive policing by Nottinghamshire Police.
If you have any concerns in your area, please do not hesitate to contact Nottinghamshire Police on 101 or speak to an officer out on patrol.
