21 arrests is a cause for celebration

When you hit 21 you get the key to the door. In the case of 21 Northumbria Police arrests last week, it led to a key to the cells for some!

That will be music to the ears of the law-abiding community of Sunderland - and a warning shot across the bows to the criminal fraternity. As we reveal today, police tracked down 21 of the most-wanted faces across our community in a week of coordinated strikes. These were longterm wanted suspects on the books of our law enforcers who were wanted in connection with a series of crimes including arson, burglary and the importation of controlled drugs.

While the pandemic has restricted the movement of ordinary folk, the criminals are still at large.

Just how prolific they are is revealed by the statistics revealed by Chief

Inspector Paul Walters.

In the last week alone, the police had arrested 180 people across Sunderland and South Tyneside.

He said: “Eleven of those high-priority suspects were locked up within a single day – something that is even more impressive given the busy week we encountered with over 180 arrests in total. I would like to thank all those involved in this outstanding example of proactive policing and hope it sends a strong message out to the communities we serve.

“We will continue to detect and disrupt crime, locate suspected criminals and use every tactic at our disposal to ultimately bring them to justice.”

Today it’s fair to say that 21 arrests is a cause for celebration. And we trust that key brings with it a satisfying ‘click’ as the cell is locked on offenders.