An anti-metal theft operation has won awards for ‘Most Successful Crime Reduction Initiative’ with Electricity North West and the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining and ‘Outstanding Problem Orientated Partnership’ for a regional week long operation which Greater Manchester Police (GMP) coordinated.
Operations Coordinator for Operation Alloy, John Woods also received an award for his contribution to reducing metal theft. Operation Alloy was launched in 2011 after what the authorities have admitted was a huge increase in metal theft. Since then it has reduced by 72 per cent.
GMP Superintendent Craig Thompson said: “These awards are a testament of the dedication and commitment of the team in reducing metal theft and bringing offenders to justice.
“Our aim when we launched Operation Alloy was to make Greater Manchester a ‘no go’ area for metal thieves and we’ve used every tool at our disposal to achieve that.
“John Woods in particular has worked tirelessly to make it harder for metal thieves to operate and I’m delighted his hard work has been recognised.”
Electricity North West’s security and resilience manager, Mandy Ingham, said: “Attempting to steal metal from the electricity network is extremely dangerous and it can also result in customers losing power and cost tens of thousands of pounds to repair the damage. We’re delighted that our work with the police has had such a positive impact and has been recognised as best practice nationally.”
