Rochford plain-clothed officers out helping tackle crime

The 12-hour operation saw seven officers from Rayleigh’s local policing team patrolling the town to keep residents safe.

On Friday, officers carried out 12 stop and searches, handed out community resolution orders and submitted vital intelligence reports.

They also disrupted a shoplifting incident and were able to issue a community resolution to deal with the incident.

As part of the targeted approach officers arrested a man for possession of a Class B drug and failing to attend court in connection with an aggravated burglary charge. He had been outstanding for two years.

Seized - Class B Drugs (Image: Essex Police)

Police Sgt Paul Restall said: “Every day our officers are out in the Rochford area, and across the county, conducting uniformed patrols and undercover work to keep people across the area safe and catch those intent on causing harm.

“This operation saw us focus on retail crime, monitoring activity in our shops across the town to ensure people can go about their business.

“We were also tackling anti-social behaviour as we won’t tolerate disruption to the lives of people in our county.”