Sheffield vehicle crime: Police flood city centre to tackle rising reports of car crimes

Sheffield city centre’s neighbourhood policing team took on a day of action with ‘Operation Steel’, an operation set up to tackle a range of local crime and to provide visible police presence on the streets. The team carried out high-visibility patrols around car parks in Hartshead Square, Wellington Street and the Ponds Forge area on February 15 as they focused on tackling rising reports of vehicle crime.

Throughout the day, officers handed out crime prevention advice and conducted 10 stop searches, which led to one arrest for breach of a court order, and a caution for possession of cannabis. A vehicle was also seized for being driven with no license and no insurance. One man was prosecuted for driving while disqualified, and a further person was reported for driving while using a mobile phone.

Officers also worked with partners from Sheffield City Council and housing, community safety and substance misuse teams to carry out additional outreach work to those presenting as homeless. While out on patrol, officers also safely located a high risk missing person.

A/Sergeant Annabelle Hakes, of Sheffield city centre NPT, said: “Our officers are out in the city on patrol seven days a week, 365 days of the year, however days of action like Operation Steel see us head out in force to tackle issues that we know are concerning the public, such as vehicle crime.

“We know how distressing it can be if your vehicle is stolen, or if it is damaged and items are stolen from it, and we have a range of positive, proactive work taking place across the city centre, which sees us work alongside our proactive teams and partners to carry out engagement and enforcement activity. We will continue to run the operations like this on a regular basis throughout the remainder of the year with a different focus each time.”

If you have any concerns around crime in the city centre, you can find contact details of your local officers by visiting the force’s website. Alternatively, CrimeStoppers can be contacted anonymously on 0800 555 111.