Message from Slough LPA Commander
On the morning of 24/1, police from Berkshire East assisted officers from the Metropolitan Police Service, who carried out a number of search warrants at addresses mainly in the Chalvey area of Slough.
I would like to reassure the residents of Chalvey and the wider community of Slough that this was a pre-planned operation by our colleagues, specifically targeting individuals suspected of belonging to organised crime networks who are not only involved themselves, but also criminally exploit others, often young children, to commit offences on their behalf .
Today’s operation is nothing to do with terrorism or terrorist activity of any kind.
The warrants executed this morning are in connection with crimes committed in the London area. However, should any offences relating to Slough or Thames Valley Police come to light; then we will deal with them accordingly in liaison with our colleagues at the Metropolitan Police Service.
I appreciate many residents would have woken up to a rather large police presence in Chalvey this morning, however it is our intention to ensure that any disruption is kept to a minimum and that the areas concerned return to normality as soon as possible.
Members of the neighbourhood policing team are on duty and will be able to address local concerns.
I would like to emphasise that today’s operation has been carried out solely to target law breakers and those involved in organised crime networks and not any particular section of the community.
Although this highly visible operation has taken place mainly in Chalvey today, I would like to reassure the residents that overall crime in their area has fallen over the past nine months. Between April and December 2007, overall crime was down 3.8% compared to the same period in 2006. This is in line with the current crime trend in Slough which shows significant reductions in some key categories for example robbery down 20%, criminal damage down 13%, theft from the person down 6%, violent crime also down 6%, and racially aggravated crime down 17%.
Slough welcomes new communities and benefits from strong community links. A large percentage of the established community are from minority ethnic groups and the town is well known for its diversity. Good community and race relations are of paramount importance to the way in which the area is policed. We have a dedicated team of community and diversity officers who provide specialist advice and support in operations of this kind as well as day to day policing.
In partnership with Slough Borough Council and the Metropolitan Police Service, we have personally written to a number of householders in the areas where today’s operation has taken place.
Thames Valley Police ~ Slough