Officers in Dudley scrap metal dealer visits
Saturday 29th October 2011, 3:00PM BST.
Undercover police officers are being dispatched to scrap metal dealers across the West Midlands to conduct a series of test purchases looking for stolen metal, it emerged today.
The covert purchases are being made as part of Operation Stealth, a scheme launched by police to cut down on metal thieves plaguing the region.
A day of action to promote the operation yesterday saw 20 scrapyards across Dudley visited and Stealth posters warning of police action were put up.
One man was fined £500 and issued a notice of prosecution by Revenue and Customs officers, who joined the team and carried out 33 dip-tests on scrap vans, looking for illegal red diesel fuel, while Environment Agency workers were on-hand checking for waste carriers’ licences.
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About time too. Thought that things were quiet in my street today. Normally have about 5 of them on a Saturday.just wonder why it takes the police so long to take action
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its not upto the police to take action, the local authority should be checking these people. the police are looking for stolen metal. if the local authority did its job them perhaps the police can get on and do theirs.
too often the police are blamed, lets give them some credit
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i think the people to whom you refer are scrap metal collectors. they’re registered with the local authority. the police are looking for people who go around in the night nicking manhole covers, that kind of thing
try to read the story properly before commenting. that way you won’t look so silly
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we get them knocking on the doors in our street and blaring that auful tune on their horn
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who? police officers?
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It takes the police time to plan an operation like this, from seeing the problem arise to putting things like this in action takes time. Everything takes time so that the right people are caught in the act and can then be prosecuted. No point going in blindly and catching nobody is there!
Also it’s about people letting the police know what’s going on and giving them the information that they need….the police don’t have crystal balls, and need help from us the public to bring people like this to justice!
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well it’s not ‘covert’ now is it? it’s in the paper!
d’oh!
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