Car crime raid success

A SERIES of raids on the homes of suspected car criminals and burglars has proved successful .

Five arrests were made when police visited homes in Epping and Ongar between Monday and Thursday last week. One person was being charged, two being bailed pending further inquiries and two being released without charge after interview.

The raids, some of which were made outside the area but related to local crimes, were part of Operation Relentless, a countywide initiative aimed at arresting those suspected od being involved in car crime and burglary.

Epping Acting Inspector Sean O'Callaghan explained they had already been targeting car crime and burglaries and this meant the number of arrests under Operation Relentless was relatively lower.

"I'm very pleased with the raids. In Epping car crime and burglary is one of our targets over the next four months."

Mr O'Callaghan said there was apathy in the area for car security and his team would be blitzing the streets in the coming months. One scheme will see officers leaving notes on vulnerable cars to warn the owners of the security risks and there will be high visibility patrols in crime hotspots.

Operation Relentless has so far seen 146 people arrested in Essex with 173 offences detected with 12 of the arrests coming in Harlow. Of the offences detected countywide 56 were theft of motor vehicle, 18 were theft from motor vehicle as well as various others.

12:05 Thursday 1st August 2002

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