A green once surrounded by crime finally feels ‘safe’ again.
The former ‘gangland’ where kids now spend their summer holidays.
A kid is wearing a policeman’s jacket that’s so big the sleeves hang all the way to his ankles. From under a heavy police cap, he grins up at his mum and two officers.
The sight, in the middle of Stoneleigh Park in Derker, speaks volumes about the change happening here.
A community plagued by crime and antisocial behaviour, where up until recently trust in the police was at an all-time low, says it has seen a ‘real difference’ ever since a specialist police strategy, Operation Vulcan, has moved into town.
The mission is geared at cracking down on gang violence – which has brought a series of shootings, stabbings and drug-dealing to the doorsteps of residents in the past few years. But it’s also about rebuilding relationships, which is why a team of officers attended Stoneleigh Park’s Holiday Activities and Food program (HAF) on Wednesday, August 14.
A little boy tries on a police uniform – room to grow into. (Image: Charlotte Hall)
The free event, organised regularly by the Friends of Stoneleigh Park and local councillors, attracts a queue of hundreds of families. All kids are entitled to a free packed lunch upon entry, and are largely left to roam the park, which is filled with different activities – from VR experiences to face painting – as well as stalls from local organisations and GMP.
Siblings jostle in the front seats of a police car for their turn to jam a finger onto the siren button. Two massive police horses stoically accept the sticky fingers of curious toddlers patting their flanks.
And a gaggle of dancers in giant fruit costumes, unperturbed by the sweltering heat, whisk the youngsters into energetic dance routines.
It all takes place on a green where, up until very recently, many residents said they ‘wouldn’t dream’ of letting their kids play alone.
A gaggle of dancers in giant fruit costumes, unperturbed by the sweltering heat, whisk the youngsters into energetic dance routines.(Image: Charlotte Hall)
“To be honest, I didn’t feel comfortable coming to the park unless my partner was with me, especially in the afternoon or evening,” Louise, 21, told the M.E.N, while taking refuge in the shade with her toddler and partner Luke, 22. “Once some teenagers even tried to mug me here – though they were only 13 so I just laughed and walked away.”
There’s a reason residents are nervous. The park is at the heart of a town where just over seven months ago, locals witnessed the last of a spate of shootings in broad daylight thought to be linked to gang activity. One of the related incidents was described by a police detective as a ‘Wild West’ shootout.
Louise and others described seeing groups of what they believed to be gang members lingering around her estate and on the green, teens running down the street brandishing knives, and groups of mostly boys on e-bikes causing havoc for pedestrians. The e-bikes, which are often worth thousands, are thought to be used to groom kids into criminal activity, according to GMP.
Kids meet some of the four-legged members of the force, Badger and Ebenezer.(Image: Charlotte Hall)
“For a long time, people just thought the police didn’t care,” Louise went on. “But they come in and out of this area all the time now, so the gangs have stopped coming into the park.
“It feels a lot safer. I’ve even started taking my dog for a walk round here on my own. I never used to do that.”
The Operation is only five months in – and still has a long way to go, according to both police officers and community members. But regular raids on properties, seizures of e-bikes and scooters, and referrals to social services and mental health organisations are starting to yield results.
In July, GMP seized 13 weapons (including a sawn off shotgun and a revolver), £37k of class A and B drugs and 28 illegal vehicles. They’ve made 35 arrests and executed 11 warrants.
Youngsters munching on their packed lunches, made by volunteers at the HAF event.
And two weeks ago, police believe they booked five key members of a major drug operation at five addresses in the neighbourhood.
“The kids do feel a lot safer coming out on their own,” Sara, long-term Derker resident, told the M.E.N. at the entrance of the park. “And we know that they’re safe. The conversations before Vulcan with the children – we were talking about masked bikers, people carrying knives. Kids of eight, nine, should not have to be thinking about stuff like that and they were.”
Another local mum, Kelly Jones, 41, who also volunteers at the HAF event, was more cautiously optimistic.
“We’re getting there,” she said. “There’s still a lot of distrust because it’s been going on a long time. There’s a lot of scared people out there. It’s building the trust that’s been broken a long time.
Kelly Jones, mum and one of the HAF volunteers, says there’s still ‘a lot of scared people’ in Derker. (Image: Charlotte Hall)
“And you’re still going to get the sneaky ones. There will always be people who just do what they want. But as long as everyone’s feeling safe in their community – being able to go to the shop without fear of being run over by a moped or knives being pulled out – then they should crack on. I’m glad they’re here.
“My children come [to Stoneleigh Park] in the afternoon now. They didn’t used to because you just didn’t know what was going on down here. Now we feel less dread.”
The difference is noticeable on the streets too, according to local councillor Angela Cosgrove – who admits she was sceptical about the operation when it first arrived.
“I told them – I’ll believe it when I see it,” said the no-nonsense representative, who considers herself first and foremost a Derker resident. Angela believes she was targeted by criminals in the area leading up to her election, when someone set her seventy-year-old mum’s car on fire.
(Image: Charlotte Hall)
“A resident later told me they had heard a conversation about it – that someone wanted to ‘shut me up because I was a councillor grass’ – and wanted to go to the police, but they were too scared,” she said.
“When the shootings happened [about a year later], the community just went inside. Families didn’t let their kids out. People were scared to go to the shops at night.
“It’s unbelievable the difference the Operation Vulcan has made. The residents round here are gobsmacked. It’s become what the community was before.”
The Stoneleigh HAF is a staple of school holidays in Derker – and is put on through a momentous effort by the local community and Friends of Stoneleigh Park. The free meal is often a vital help for local families, and police officers say it’s helping to rebuild trust by giving the community an informal way of engaging with the force.
Charlotte and Christine in a tight sandwich-making operation. (Image: Charlotte Hall)
Charlotte, 38, a teacher in Tameside who was helping her grandma Christine Renton make sandwiches for the youngsters, said she wished similar events took place all across Greater Manchester.
Charlotte said: “It’s brilliant. There’s high crime rates around here, it’s a predominantly free-school meal area, a lot of people are struggling. But this allows people to come together and see that they’re not on their own.
“It also allows the children to see that the police aren’t intimidating – they’re there to support and help. And it teaches them respect on how to look after the area they live in.”
That’s exactly the idea. DCI Chris Julien from Operation Vulcan said: “These events help bring the local community together, and are so important as they give us the opportunity to engage with them, and strengthen relationships by increasing trust and confidence in us.”
The event was also visited by Greater Manchester’s Deputy Mayor Kate Green, who added: “It’s very important that we’re doing this in communities that can often feel a bit neglected, who feel like nobody really cares about what’s going on here. Perhaps they’ve got higher levels of crime and anti-social behaviour, hence might be worried about their kids. Operation Vulcan can’t sort all of that out on its own.
“We have to work with the community. It’s really important that people are getting used to seeing the police around. In the past, you would have seen a lot of mistrust in the police. This really helps to build that trust back up.”
GMP are still in the ‘clearing’ phase of the Operation, where they drive criminal activity out of the area through unpredictable raids and increased police presence. This will be followed by a ‘hold’ phase to stop criminals returning to the area.
Deputy Mayor Kate Green on her visit to Stoneleigh Park.(Image: Charlotte Hall)
And while some are nervous about what will happen when the operation ends, the effect of the first five months is visible.
In Stoneleigh Park, a green once in the middle of a Greater Manchester ‘gangland’, children boss around bobbies and dance with giant fruit, and families are enjoying their summer holiday without fear.