‘For whatever reason, the community don’t necessarily name people’Brinnington in Stockport(Image: Manchester Evening News)

A police chief says he is hoping to ‘restore trust and confidence’ on a Stockport estate where yobs and drug dealers have been causing long-standing issues.

Greater Manchester Police (GMP) began a month of intensive work in Brinnington in Stockport on November 10. It saw the area flooded with officers including the local neighbourhood policing team, but also teams from across the force, including the drone unit, covert officers and traffic officers, as they tried to ‘disrupt criminality’, which has blighted the area over a number of years.

In total 21 people were arrested for a range of offences including possession with intent to supply Class A and Class B drugs, failing to appear in court, dangerous driving, money laundering, and possession of knives. Drugs and weapons were seized, including 2 kilos of heroin and 1.5kg of cannabis, as well as 12 vehicles including two e-bikes and half a million pounds of ‘illicit’ cash.

The Manchester Evening News has reported on claims from locals that yobs and criminals were ‘running riot’ on the estate going back more than five years. And the man in charge of policing in Stockport says he hopes the latest crime blitz can help rebuild the relationship between officers and the public.

Officers carrying out raids as part of their month of action(Image: GMP)

As part of their work, officers sent a survey out to residents and began knocking on doors to ask them what the issues were in the area, and what they wanted to see.

Chief Inspector John Picton, from GMP’s Stockport Neighbourhood team, told the Manchester Evening News during the operation that many of the ‘usual issues’ were highlighted, such as anti-social behaviour, off-road bikes, and drug dealing, and that locals said they wanted to ‘see the yellow coats’ and ‘see the police vehicles’ more often.

“Historically, there’s been what we thought was a lack of trust and confidence from the people in Brinnington in particular” he said. “We’re going out, asking them the questions. and saying ‘tell us what you want, and we’ll do it.’ If it’s off-road bikes, which I know are an issue up there, tell us where they are and we’ll come and get them” the officer said. “It’s about nipping things in the bud. If you let people do what they want to do, you lose control of it” he added.

He said he did not believe crime in the area had escalated in any way, but that, instead, the operation was aimed at ‘arresting the people that need arresting’ and ‘showing people that we’re here, and that we’re listening’

Some of the 2kg of heroin that was seized(Image: GMP)

“I wouldn’t say it’s gotten worse by any means, but we have very little contact from the community there” he said. And there’s a reason isn’t there? We set up these police and community together (PACT) meetings, and in other areas we get very good turnouts.

“There is a lack of engagement and there must be reason for that. I don’t know what it is. So we’re trying to be proactive, getting on the front foot, and getting people to try and talk to us. Why they’re not engaging, or they haven’t historically, I can’t put a finger on it.”

He said he believed the crime was not primarily being committed any one particular group or demographic. He said the area has seen ‘a lot of anti-social behaviour involving juvenile offenders but also ‘people as old as me who have been dealing drugs.’

“There’s a number of criminals and offenders who live within Brinnington” he said. “But it’s not one particular group or family by any means. We’ve been out looking for people and it’s not a particular group, it is individuals.

Police speaking to youngsters in Brinnington in 2023(Image: Manchester Evening News)

“I wouldn’t say there’s more offenders in Brinnington than any other area of Stockport. It’s just, for whatever reason, the community don’t necessarily name people. When we know who certain people are, and we go and lock them up. I wouldn’t say there’s any particular gang or anything like that up there.”

Anti-social behaviour has been a long-standing issue highlighted by residents in the area. In early November the M.E.N reported how yobs had hurled missiles onto the M60 from a bridge above with a number of vehicles damaged, including buses.

“That really is a dangerous thing, that can cause all sorts of issues, and is the sort of thing we have to deal with” Ch Insp Picton said. “That sort of thing tends to generally be juveniles. We do engage with local schools. We have put patrols up there, but I haven’t got enough patrols to leave somebody on a motorway bridge 24/7.

“It is about getting the message out there that we’re aware of it and we’ll do something about it. If people tell me who has done that, I can drag them in and arrest them for it. But we need that information.

“Somebody knows who is doing that, it’s about building the trust and confidence for them to tell us. Neighbourhood policing is intelligence led. The more people tell us, the more we can do about it.”

The officer admitted ‘it will take time’ to build up trust but said: “I am hoping through this intensification, by putting a lot of people in there and getting some really good results, people will say ‘actually, if I tell the police something, they may well do something about it.”