“We want to be at the forefront, and we want to reassure the community” Greater Manchester Police launch Operation Avro across Salford

A series of dawn raids marked the launch of a major 24-hour police crackdown on crime across Salford.

From 5am more than 200 officers providing high visibility patrols were involved conducting a series of arrests, raids and a public show of strength.

Our community officers are out leaflet dropping letting the people of #Salford know what work is being carried out today as part of #OperationAVRO pic.twitter.com/scguTj0ojE

— GMP Salford (@GMPSalford) October 26, 2021

The raids were followed by two ‘meet the public’ events, with senior officers and mounted police out in force in Walkden and Salford Quays later in the day.

Chief Inspector of Neighbourhoods and Partnerships Paul Coburn  said: “You hear a lot of things in the media about GMP and this is an opportunity for us to show we’re tackling those issues.

“We want to be at the forefront, and we want to reassure the community.”

Greater Manchester Police’s Operation Avro is a day of action aiming to stop criminals, protect vulnerable people, and provide support within the community.

In the early morning raids 11 arrests were made, drug, cash and vehicle seizures have taken place, and numerous warrants continue to be carried out.

Several warrants being executed across the city this morning as part of #OperationAVRO.

Keep your 👀 on our feed this morning for all the latest… pic.twitter.com/J1iwCMBe7S

— GMP Salford (@GMPSalford) October 26, 2021

Coburn said: “There’s been really good feedback from the community today about what we’re doing and why we’re out and about.

“We are being really transparent and open and just telling them. We want to gather community intelligence in order to sustain policing in the area and rebuild confidence in the police.”

Many members of the community attended todays talks and raised their concerns in relation to antisocial behaviour, drugs, and firearms, all of which have been tackled in some respect in today’s raids.

The operation is ending for the day at 11pm but is likely to continue for the next few days. Keep up with what’s going on by following #OperationAVRO on Twitter.