100 arrested as part of new police operation in Staffordshire

Cars, drugs and thousands of pounds in cash have also been seized as part of Operation Disrupt, which saw a new police team formed from local officers, special constables and specialist staff from across Staffordshire Police force to target prolific offenders.

Arrests were made right across the county for offences ranging from suspected GBH and robbery, to suspected drugs offences, possession of offensive weapons and assaults.

Operation Disrupt ran from July 10 until Sunday and consisted of highly visible hot spot policing, stop and search activity, the targeting of wanted offenders, including those using the roads network and a number of intelligence led arrests and search warrants.

Stafford MP Jeremy Lefroy along with many local councillors, attended to witness the operation.

Superintendent Martin Brereton, head of neighbourhood policing at Staffordshire Police, said: “This has been a successful operation and it’s satisfying to reflect on the disruption it has caused for criminals in Staffordshire.

“We have focused our resources and used additional investment to ensure that we have targeted areas to keep our communities safe.

"We’ve worked closely with a number of other agencies such as Central Motorway Police Group, National Crime Agency (NCA) and surrounding forces to coordinate activity that has spanned the county.

"During this time we have made many arrests, seized drugs, cash, weapons and stolen property.”

“It has been a busy two weeks and we’ve had success disrupting criminal activity.

"Our message is clear however, that the work of Operation Disrupt doesn’t stop here and we will continue to focus on those causing harm in our neighbourhoods.”

The new team was deployed to the areas that suffer crime the most, and places to target individuals, in an effort to reduce the amount of violent crime and drug offences.

A roads policing unit also targeted criminals using the road network to commit and facilitate crime, working alongside the Central Motorway Policing Group and the Staffordshire Safer Roads Partnership.

Both the disruptions team and roads policing team were set up after funding was made available through an increase in council tax across the region.