This March, specially trained officers from Operation Shield have been working hard to dismantle organised crime groups operating within the Humberside Police area.

Organised crime has the potential to affect every part of a community and it can take many forms – whether that be human trafficking, sexual or criminal exploitation, theft, robbery, burglary, rural crime, or the importation of weapons, drugs, or counterfeit goods.

Assistant Chief Constable Mike Walker said: “We are here to serve, to protect and to keep people safe, and our focus on serious and organised crime across the Humberside Police area continues.

“We remain committed to this by targeting those who cause the most harm in our communities, taking a proactive approach to arresting suspects and preventing crime to ultimately disrupt and dismantle all those involved in organised criminality.

“One MO for organised crime groups is to prey on vulnerable people, whether that be through cuckooing by forcefully taking over someone’s home to store, sell, or use drugs, or trying to exploit and recruit young impressionable people to become ‘runners’ for them. Specialist teams across our force continue to work around the clock to protect those in your community who are most vulnerable to these kinds of crimes.”

Teams from across the force have also been focused on cracking down on crime in hotspot locations and relentlessly pursuing the harmful criminals in our region by carrying out a number of warrants and arrests, taking offenders off our streets.

Whilst this is daily business for our teams, operations like Shield gives us an opportunity to really clamp down on organised crime and those involved, whilst also showcasing all the amazing work being done day in day out to identify criminals involved in a whole host of crimes.

Specialist detectives have also continued with their focus on protecting vulnerable people by targeting sexual offenders and perpetrators of domestic abuse, which has seen 49 arrests of high harm suspects in connection with crimes such as stalking and harassment, criminal damage, assault, theft, burglary, possession of Class B drugs, threats to damage, public order offences and breach of non-molestation orders, and breach of bail. Twelve of these individuals have since been charged.

Our Roads Policing Unit carried out a number of commercial vehicle roadside checks in Bridlington, Goole, Grimsby, Hull and Scunthorpe where a total of 108 vehicles including large goods, and heavy goods vehicles were stopped.

This led to 49 traffic offence reports being handed out for offences such as insecure loads, and tyre offences, 14 prohibitions for insecure loads, five immobilisations for overweight vehicles, 18 warnings for weight, load security, and window tints, two expired waste licenses, one warning for driving without insurance, and one warning for driving in an anti social manner.

Officers also carried out eight visits to commercial premises alongside Trading Standards, seizing nearly 45,000 illegal cigarettes, 358 pouches of tobacco and over 3,000 illegal vapes.

Assistant Chief Constable Mike Walker continued: “Officers have also been taking part in preventative work, visiting a variety of local businesses, schools, and universities to raise awareness of topics around violence against women and girls, county lines, and child criminal or sexual exploitation.

“Our commitment to keeping our communities’ safe remains at the core of the work that we do and the work our officers have done throughout Operation Shield will continue to ultimately make the lives of criminals across our force area feel uncomfortable.

“Teams will be continuing their proactive work over the next few weeks as Operation Coastline is back again for the Easter Holidays and then through the summer months by targeting crime across hotspot locations. Those within our coastal towns can expect to see more high visibility patrols as they start seeing an increase in seasonal visitors and tourists.

“By working with our communities, and partners, we can better understand the issues our communities are experiencing, and it allows us to target our resources effectively.

“Ultimately, if something doesn’t look right in your community, please tell us.”

We would always encourage you to report any offences or information to us so we can build the bigger picture and take appropriate action.

You can report information on our non-emergency number 101, or always call 999 in an emergency.

Alternatively, you can provide information anonymously to independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.