Dear all,
I previously informed you about Operation Artemis (long term operation focusing on drug use and supply across Aylesbury Vale) that was running and explained that we had some excellent initial results. It has now concluded and ran for a total of 6 weeks with additional support from our Neighbourhood Police and Response Teams; we have now had a chance to count up the full results. Op Artemis is run by our intelligence team at Aylesbury Police Station and on a weekly basis uses officers from the Roads Policing Pro-active team - they will be better known to you as the officers regularly appearing on the tv show Road Wars.
The ability to bolster Operation Artemis with additional officers over this period enabled the team to deal with more work from arrest stage to full prosecution. In total 69 arrests were made during the operation, 41 for drugs possession and supply offences and 11 for serious acquisitive crimes (such as burglary and car crime) & 18 arrests for other offences. A total of 29 search warrants were executed (22 for drugs, 7 for theft & handling stolen property). These searches resulted in the dismantling of 7 cannabis factories, ranging from small scale set ups to organised criminal enterprises with a total of 2000 plants at a street value of £600,000 seized.
Two offenders travelling from London and High Wycombe to deal heroin and cocaine were prosecuted with one male given a 4 year prison sentence, and 3 more are on remand in prison awaiting sentence or trial. I am pleased to announce that in total £10,000 cash has been seized under the Proceeds of Crime Act, and in addition to the cannabis plants drugs with a street value of a further £10,000 have been taken off the streets.
Officers from the Priority Crime Team who deal with burglary, robbery and car crime offenders have charged 3 males from Ilford with an offence of conspiracy to burgle in relation to 10 house burglaries across the south of England where cars were stolen. Due to the modern technology in cars they need to get the keys in order to steal the car, hence breaking into the house first. One of these offences was in The Coppice in Aylesbury and one in another area of Thames Valley, 6 were in Hertfordshire, 1 in Surrey and 1 in Cornwall!!! These cross border offenders were identified and successfully prosecuted by our very own local officers after a great deal of work. The officer in charge of the case has told me that the case summary for Crown Court was 29 pages long!!
I can give you a further update on James Dean Howard who was charged and remanded with burglary and dangerous driving after knocking over PC Alix Daley - he has now pleaded guilty at court and we are awaiting sentencing. I very much look forward to updating you with his sentence and will be having a celebratory drink in the pub next door to the police station when I hear the news (off duty off course). Alix is still recovering from her injuries, she is walking slowly now but is still in pain and general discomfort but again asked me to thank everyone who offered their kind wishes after the accident.
We have just completed the Cop Card Sticker Scheme, the idea is for children in Year 6 from all the schools in Bucks to collect stickers (24 in all) and fill up their card. Each sticker can be collected by completing a different task or challenge, or by attending an event and is aimed at encouraging children to try out new activities and learn about their community. Schools in Aylesbury did extremely well this year and 1st prize of free tickets to Legoland for all of the Year 6 students were awarded to St Louis Roman Catholic School, a runners up prize of a session using a climbing wall awarded to pupils at St Mary's School. Ashmead School was awarded £250 for their commitment and contribution, one of their students also received a personal prize for his personal achievement while participating in the programme. Well done to all the Year 6 students across Aylesbury Vale, it was a close run competition but praise is well earned and deserved for everyone involved.
Despite the fairly large numbers given earlier on about Operation Artemis, Aylesbury Vale is one of the safest places and has some of the lowest crime rates across the region, especially with regards to more serious and violent crimes. I know we still have work to do but hope you can see that we are working as hard as we can to reduce crime and improve the standard of living across the Aylesbury Vale. If you have any specific questions or comments then please contact me directly. Don't forget that your Neighbourhood Team provide a more detailed monthly update about what's happening in your area on our force website www.thamesvalley.police.uk
Regards,
Omar.
 | If you have any information in relation to this message, please contact Thames Valley Police on 08458 505 505 www.thamesvalley.police.uk. |
 | If you have information about crime but do not want to speak to the police, call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111. |
