cuchulainn
April 6, 2003, 12:51 PM
from the icBirmingham site
http://icbirmingham.icnetwork.co.uk/0100news/0100localnews/page.cfm?objectid=12813053&method=full&siteid=50002Armed police make roadside checks
Apr 5 2003
By John Revill, Birmingham Post
Armed police carrying machine pistols have taken to the streets of Birmingham as part of a crackdown against gun-toting gangsters.
A series of rolling roadside checks took place in Winson Green, Handsworth, Lozells and Aston during Operation Pulse.
Uniform officers were backed up by firearms officers openly carrying Heckler and Koch machine pistols for the initiative which ran from 10am to 6pm.
Overall 20 roadside checks were carried out, targeting the vehicles of suspects linked to firearms offences.
Detective Chief Inspector Russell Smith, crime manager at Rose Road police station, coordinated the checks, which involved more than 30 officers.
He said: “We have not been stopping cars for the sake of it, rather this was an intelligence based operation to target people we believe have been involved with the illegal use of firearms.
“We had an overt carrying of weapons because some of the our information indicated that some of the cars we stopped may have had guns, as well as reassuring members of the public.”
Det Chief Insp Smith said the initiative was part of a heightened police response to gun crime in the wake of the New Year murders in Aston of Letisha Shakespeare and Char-lene Ellis.
“This was part of an ongoing initiative, and will be repeated in future. It is one of the different tactics we will be employing against armed criminals to take them off the streets of the West Midlands.”
••A total of 18 weapons were handed into West Midlands Police yesterday, taking the total to 251 since the guns amnesty was launched on Monday.
© owned by or licensed to Trinity Mirror Plc 2003
http://icbirmingham.icnetwork.co.uk/0100news/0100localnews/page.cfm?objectid=12813053&method=full&siteid=50002Armed police make roadside checks
Apr 5 2003
By John Revill, Birmingham Post
Armed police carrying machine pistols have taken to the streets of Birmingham as part of a crackdown against gun-toting gangsters.
A series of rolling roadside checks took place in Winson Green, Handsworth, Lozells and Aston during Operation Pulse.
Uniform officers were backed up by firearms officers openly carrying Heckler and Koch machine pistols for the initiative which ran from 10am to 6pm.
Overall 20 roadside checks were carried out, targeting the vehicles of suspects linked to firearms offences.
Detective Chief Inspector Russell Smith, crime manager at Rose Road police station, coordinated the checks, which involved more than 30 officers.
He said: “We have not been stopping cars for the sake of it, rather this was an intelligence based operation to target people we believe have been involved with the illegal use of firearms.
“We had an overt carrying of weapons because some of the our information indicated that some of the cars we stopped may have had guns, as well as reassuring members of the public.”
Det Chief Insp Smith said the initiative was part of a heightened police response to gun crime in the wake of the New Year murders in Aston of Letisha Shakespeare and Char-lene Ellis.
“This was part of an ongoing initiative, and will be repeated in future. It is one of the different tactics we will be employing against armed criminals to take them off the streets of the West Midlands.”
••A total of 18 weapons were handed into West Midlands Police yesterday, taking the total to 251 since the guns amnesty was launched on Monday.
© owned by or licensed to Trinity Mirror Plc 2003