Thefts from vehicles drop in Greater Manchester as police crackdown

Theft from vehicles across Greater Manchester has dropped over the past 12 months, while arrests and charges are up. 

There were 12,365 crimes recorded in the past year compared to 13,387 in the previous 12 months – a fall of 7.6%. 

In the same period there were 208 arrests with 105 people charged – previous figures were 170 arrests and 77 charged. 

Superintendent Ian Jones, vehicle crime lead for Greater Manchester Police, said: “We use a range of tactics to combat vehicle crime and those methods are now being shared with other forces across the UK. 

"Tactics include high-visibility patrols, targeted arrest warrants and offender management to reduce the likelihood of reoffending. 

“Operation Acquire is an ongoing operation that uses all of GMP’s resources and that of our partners to fight all areas of neighbourhood crime including vehicle crime - we anticipate this will continue to reduce offences while making more arrests. 

“Acquire is GMP’s forcewide initiative that sees intensified action across a month with extra resources deployed across the force to target and arrest criminals suspected of committing neighbourhood offences. 

"We also promote the use of partners and volunteer groups, such as Neighbourhood Watch, to provide the information and intelligence to allow us to bring those who are damaging our communities to justice.”