Major police operation sees multiple arrests made and vehicles seized in Birmingham

Officers from the Operation Skybridge team from West Midlands Police have been deployed to Small Heath in Birmingham and have been carrying out proactive enforcement, and engaging with the community to build a positive relationship.

Operation Skybridge is a serious and acquisitive crime (SAC) team, and exclusively prevent and detect crimes such as burglary, robbery, vehicle and drug crime in the allocated area they are positioned in.

The team has been issuing messages via WM Now, and going out to meet the community and listening to their concerns. 

One of the main issues raised was cars parking in streets and being abandoned for months, with the Skybridge team working to tackle the issue and, following a recent vehicle sweep in Camelot Way and Glovers Road, 17 vehicles were seized for a number of offences.

The team made 20 arrests during their deployment to the area, which led to 25 charges and included offences such as possession of Class A drugs with intent to supply, driving without insurance, possession of a bladed article, and dangerous driving.

In total, the team seized 28 vehicles while working in Small Heath, four of which were found to be stolen.

Weapons and drugs have also been a target, with seven knives seized, along with a large amount of Class A and Class B drugs.

The team work closely with the local neighbourhood team in each area to understand the priorities and concerns of the local people. 

The Skybridge team then provided a highly visible presence with uniformed and plain clothes officers out to deter criminal activity, make arrests and offer reassurance to the local community.

Sargeant Danny Fulford, from the Operation Skybridge team, said: "This has been a positively engaging deployment in Small Heath, and the reputation of the team has been ever-growing, with the evidence in people coming up to us and making us aware of issues and offences going on. 

"This level of intelligence is what helps us to tackle the issues raised.

"We are constantly engaging with the community and listening to their concerns and following intelligence from the community, we are able to target offenders and bring them to justice.

"This is pure proactive policing, causing maximum difficulty and disruption to those who are doing the most harm to our communities.

“The team work together excellently, and have shown that in each area we target, we are able to cause disruption to repeated crime.”