Police praised for booze-crime blitz

Date published: 26 August 2009

Police have been praised for their efforts to put a stop to booze-fuelled crime.

Operation Admiral resulted in more than 670 people being arrested — including 48 from Oldham — in one of Greater Manchester Police’s biggest 24-hour operations.

A third of GMP’s entire staff — including 3,000 officers of all ranks — raided homes and patrolled streets.

All available police cells were opened and prison buses were drafted in to help to cope with the extra arrests.

Operation Admiral ran from 5am on Friday to 5am on Saturday in a bid to make town and city centres safer places for revellers and rid the streets of boozed-up thugs.

It followed the recent BBC “Panorama” documentary which focused on binge-drinking and alcohol-fuelled violence in Yorkshire Street where there was a 200 per cent rise in serious violent incidents in the first four months of the year.

This led Oldham Council to introduce a ground-breaking scheme to tackle the problem by clamping down on cut-price alcohol offers in the street’s pubs, bars and clubs.

During a monthly performance meeting, Greater Manchester Police Authority chairman Councillor Paul Murphy congratulated the force on the operation’s “massive success”.

He said: “We closely monitor the actions of the force. We always make it clear when there’s an issue which needs addressing but it’s equally important to recognise when results are being delivered.

“I’m extremely proud of what’s been achieved — to say Operation Admiral made an impact is an understatement.

“Everyone involved played an important part and that has not gone unnoticed by the authority or I assume the communities of Greater Manchester.

“There is no need to say keep up the good work. I know it goes on every day within GMP and its partner agencies.

“The authority looks forward to hearing many more success stories in the future along with the outcomes from the arrests made as part of Admiral, which we’ll be monitoring.”