Police monitor 3,000 cars in dale
POLICE took to the roads in Weardale this week to prove that fear of crime is greater than crime itself.
Officers monitored more than 3,000 cars in the dale on Friday after concerns had been continuously raised by residents over speeding vehicles and suspicious cars and vans spotted around the area.
About 10 police officers, some in unmarked cars, roamed the dale and speed cameras were also set up at strategic points, yet of the 3,000 cars that passed no-one was speeding.
Officers working with HMS Customs and Excise team also stopped 187 vehicles to complete dipper tests checking for illegal use of red diesel as well as general vehicle standards.
PC Dave Turner said numerous tickets were handed out for failure to use a seat belt as well as vehicle defects. One vehicle was also seized as it had no insurance.
PC Turner said: “Operation Silver Fox was carried out as a result of public feedback and it was a resounding success. Our intelligence showed that Fridays are historically our busiest days in terms of the number of incidents which is why we held it then.
“The results clearly show that the vast majority of drivers in Weardale do so legally and follow the rules of the road.
“However, the message is that for the few that do travel into Weardale illegally or who are up to no good we will be there to enforce the law.”
Officers especially kept an eye open for flat bed trucks which are most commonly used by scrap metal merchants after a fear that the vans were being used in the theft of farming equipment.
Following the operation, PC Turner said any suspicious vehicles had been stopped but, after being questioned by officers who were also armed with sniffer dogs, all had legitimate reasons for travelling through the dale.
He said: “Hopefully this operation will have allayed some fears over the real levels of crime in the dale and shows that criminal activity really is few and far between. We will perform this operation again however and we are constantly monitoring the area.”