Double arrest as drugs and knife seized during successful Project Guardian patrols

Multiple arrests have been made as our Guardian taskforce took to the streets across the Black Country and Birmingham.

On route to Dudley Town Centre yesterday afternoon (9 June) officers spotted a car acting suspiciously in the Tipton area, watching it drive round in circles near Victoria Park.

Piquing their interests, the team carried out checks on the car which had links to ASB, weapons and drugs.

After spotting the officers the vehicle sped off driving dangerously and even mounted a kerb and damaged multiple parked vehicles in its attempts to get away.

Finally coming to stop when it collided with a tree, the team saw a bag being thrown from the window before they caught up with a suspect on foot and made an arrest on Manor Road, Tipton, shortly before 3.40pm.

On closer inspection of the bag around 30 wraps of Class A drugs were found inside. 

A 19-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of possession with intent to supply Class A drugs.

With a man in custody, they continued their patrols around Dudley Town Centre into the afternoon and evening.

Over in Birmingham the taskforce out on a Project Servator deployment arrested a man and recovered a zombie knife after carrying out proactive patrols in the city centre.

Officers were on a high-visibility patrol, targeting hotspot areas to tackle serious youth violence and knife crime, at around 5pm.

They became suspicious of a group which reacted to their presence, catching up with a man who had tried to get away – before stopping and searching him, recovering a large zombie-style combat knife.

The man, aged 18, was arrested on suspicion of possession of an offensive weapon.

Both men remain in custody for questioning.

All over West Midlands our Project Guardian teams work alongside neighbourhood teams to act on intelligence and information received from the public and carry out targeted patrols and deployments with a focus on tackling knife crime and youth violence

Project Servator is a policing tactic that aims to disrupt a range of criminal activity. The approach relies on unpredictable and highly visible police deployments, whilst at the same time, building a network of vigilance made up of business and community partners and the general public.

Remember to report any suspicious activity via 101 or via our website. Always call 999 in an emergency.