Back to Latest News
26 Jan 2012
Is there someone in your community living a lavish
lifestyle funded through crime? This is the latest
question Cheshire Police is asking residents to think about in the
fight against organised crime.
Detective Superintendent Geraint Jones of Cheshire Police’s
Crime Operations Department said:
In your neighbourhood there could be people who do not work but
spend all day spending money.
Most people work hard to get where they are in life but
some do not, they have no means of wealth but show
great wealth in what they own and the lifestyle they live. We are
asking you to let us know about the people you
suspect of being involved in organised crime.
- DS Geraint Jones, Cheshire Police Crime
Operations
Cheshire Police’s “Do You Know Who You’re Dealing
With?” campaign highlights the link between so called
petty or victimless crimes and more serious, organised crime such
as armed robbery or drug dealing.
Organised crime is any crime committed specifically for profit,
where the gang involved runs as a business, which differs from
crimes committed to fund a drug habit or on the spur of the
moment.
Communities are being asked to help tackle organised
crime by letting the police know about those people in the
community they suspect of being involved.
Superintendent Jones added:
In the past people have looked at organised crime as a kind of
mythological thing, a shadowy
figure in the community who nobody knows, a mafia type
character committing the most serious types of crime.
In reality, these are people that live in your
neighbourhood, maybe next door to you –
they are affecting the community, ruining
people’s lives and causing anxiety
through their actions. We all have our part to play in bringing
them to justice.
- DS Geraint Jones, Crime Operations
With help from Cheshire residents, criminals can not only be
prosecuted for the crimes they commit, but the money they make or
the things they buy using profits from illegal activities can also
be confiscated by the courts.
Under the 2002 Proceeds of Crime Act, police have the power to
seize cash amounts of more than £1,000 from any person if they have
grounds to believe the money has come from criminal activity or is
going to be used in criminal activity.
We can investigate and prosecute those who make a living from
crime, providing we are being given the information from people in
the community.
- DS Geraint Jones, Crime Operations
There are several ways you can help tackle organised
crime. You can talk to your local neighbourhood officers
or PCSOs, call Cheshire Police on the non-emergency number,
101 or call Crimestoppers anonymously on
0800 555 111.
