More than 30 suspects arrested during South Yorkshire Police’s Operation Calibre week of action

Operation Calibre, a national campaign, was introduced locally in a bid to reduce robberies and identify key offenders and locations.

The week-long campaign, which took place between 10 and 17 December, saw increased patrols, in addition to engagement and enforcement action across Sheffield, Rotherham, Barnsley and Doncaster.

More than 1,500 members of the public were given crime prevention advice and spoke to officers at engagement events, while 850 pupils were spoken to at schools across South Yorkshire.

Thirty-one people were arrested, 21 of whom were wanted. There also were 63 stop and searches, three warrants and 34 targeted patrols carried out.

Superintendent Jamie Henderson, who led the Operation Calibre week of action, said: “It was a fantastic week of action and a great opportunity to really invest time to engage with the community about robbery. Our activities included pop-up police stations and engagement stalls, mounted teams doing hi-vis patrols and knife arch operations.

“We also focused efforts to locate wanted and outstanding suspects, which again achieved great results.”

Supt Henderson added: “In South Yorkshire, volumes of offending were 53 per cent lower than the corresponding week in 2021, and 43 per cent lower than the week immediately preceding.

“Robbery is an appalling crime which often leaves victims shaken, in fear and sometimes with injuries. It’s a crime we will continue to pursue all year round, and we will continue to apprehend those who commit such offences and do all we can to bring them to justice.”