Vulcan day of action welcomes Home Office delegates

Operation Vulcan welcomed a delegation from the Home Office to witness the action being taken by police to combat neighbourhood crime.

The delegation of policy leads from the Home Office visited Derker on Wednesday (August 27) to see the wide-ranging work being done in the community – from direct action to crucial engagement with local people. 

This included a visit to a roads policing operation, which was proactively tackling driving offences in the area. 

Across just one morning, 47 vehicles were stopped for checks, which resulted in: 

• Five prosecutions for using a handheld device whilst driving. 

• 18 prosecutions for failing to wear a seatbelt. 

• Seven enforcements for non-conforming vehicle registrations. 

• 17 document checks completed. 

This also forms part of the wider work and commitment to ‘Vision Zero’ – which sees engagement and projects being done to end deaths and life-changing injuries on the roads by 2040 alongside GM partners.  

A Metrolink operation in the area also enabled further compliance checks for those not following the rules – with 18 fines issued for non–payment offences. 

In addition to witnessing the direct-action first-hand, the equally important engagement work was in full-flow on Wednesday afternoon, with a partner-led Holiday Activities and Food (HAF) event held at Stoneleigh Park. 

The aim of the HAF events, which was held during school holidays, was to encourage children to eat more healthily and be more active during their term breaks.  

This includes providing VR headset experiences to teach them about a wide range of topics, climbing walls, bike courses, and the ever-popular chance to turn the sirens on a police car. 

Pictured above: Home Office Policy Leads at a traffic operation

While the Home Office team visited Derker to see the problem-solving Vulcan deployment – which has been in the area combatting crime since March and has secured more than 140 arrests – the group wanted to see key neighbourhood pillars in action, which is exemplified by the work being done in Oldham. 

The pillars – which form part of the national Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee – cover police being back on the beat, community-led policing, clear performance standards and professional excellence, a crackdown on anti-social behaviour, and safer town centres. 

Across the entire force, this work is done day-in, day-out. This has seen officers locking up 100 shoplifters a week across Greater Manchester, receive funding for a further 176 frontline officers, and launch operations to tackle everything from drugs to nuisance off-road bikes. 

In June, police also launched the Safe4Summer campaign, which is part of the Home Office’s Safer Streets initiative.  

Detective Chief Inspector Chris Julien, from GMP’s Operation Vulcan team, said: “It was fantastic to welcome the Home Office team to Derker and show them what Vulcan officers, and the Oldham Partnership have been doing to tackle criminality in the community. 

“Vulcan is at its core a problem-solving neighbourhood initiative, and this is reflective in our ongoing clear-hold-build work, which has seen so much targeted activity, problem solving and engagement with local people. 

“While we are regularly conducting door-smashing warrants and proactively patrolling hotspots, we always want to be out talking to residents and finding out what they want from us as a team. 

“Neighbourhood work is a vital part of policing and is done with communities at the forefront of everything being done.” 

Councillor Elaine Taylor, Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Neighbourhoods, added: "I am pleased to see that Operation Vulcan continues to have a big impact on the community in Derker.

"Its success shows that it is about more than tackling crime. The Vulcan team continue to promote the value of getting the community behind them, developing close ties and really listening to the residents who live there. 

"I'm confident that the area will continue to benefit from these sustained efforts, and we are proud to be partners in this innovative approach."