Home Office Minister Dame Angela Eagle MP joined Greater Manchester Police officers in Bury town centre on Wednesday, 6 August, to see first-hand how a government-backed summer crime crackdown is working to tackle anti-social behaviour.
The minister's visit formed part of the Safe4Summer campaign, Greater Manchester’s local delivery of the Home Office’s national Safer Streets initiative. The project is focused on curbing anti-social behaviour (ASB) in town centres and community hotspots through high-visibility patrols, targeted enforcement and partnership working.
Dame Angela joined Bury’s neighbourhood policing team as they toured key areas of the town centre, visiting local businesses, council security teams and frontline officers. She also visited the Sir Robert Peel statue, honouring the founder of modern British policing.
Speaking during her visit, Dame Angela said:
“We want high streets across the country to be places where people can feel safe, enjoy themselves and where local shops can succeed. This is why we have launched a summer blitz on crime in over 500 town centres nationwide, including in Bury.
“It was fantastic to see how Greater Manchester Police are working hard to deter shop theft, anti-social behaviour and other town centre crime across the region. The local police with their partners are doing a great job.”
Greater Manchester Police reports that since the Safe4Summer initiative launched in late June, officers have made 239 arrests across the region for offences including retail crime, public order and violence.
Over 1,000 stop-searches have been carried out, with officers dedicating thousands of hours to patrols in hotspot areas.
Superintendent Jen Kelly, who leads GMP’s Safe4Summer team, said:
“We understand and acknowledge the frustrations that ASB can cause people as they go about their lives, and the Safer Streets Initiative is a project we are fully backing.
“Officers across every district are targeting hotspots the public has told us about, tackling everything from nuisance e-bikes to drug dealing, street drinking, and other issues, every single day.”
The initiative is underpinned by GMP’s wider neighbourhood policing investment, which includes the appointment of named local officers for every district, the launch of its community messaging platform Bee In The Loop, and the recruitment of 176 additional neighbourhood officers.
The minister praised GMP’s visibility and proactive approach, calling it “exemplary” and said it was important to give the public confidence in policing. She also reiterated the government’s commitment to placing 3,000 extra neighbourhood officers and PCSOs across England by April 2026 as part of its Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee.
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