Police were tonight flooding parts of Oldham following reports of fighting and a gang of men on the streets brandishing knives. A senior officer has sanction increased stop and search powers to prevent more trouble.
The move follows reports of a group of men brandishing bladed weapons in the area around Hollins Road although there have been no reports of any injuries. Later police responded to reports of a fight on Second Avenue in Oldham, although again no injuries were reported.
The trouble prompted a senior officer to sanction so-called ‘section 60’ powers which hands officers increased powers to stop and search people even without suspicion in a specified geographic area and for a limited time. The power runs out at 1.30am tomorrow (Monday).
Greater Manchester Police tonight confirmed no arrests have yet been made as they published details of the operation, including a map of the affected area.
“Extra officers are currently patrolling the area for reassurance and to deter any further incidents,” according to a statement from GMP.
“The section 60 has been put in place following reports of people with weapons acting in a threatening way in the area,” stated Inspector Katherine Murray of the GMP’s Oldham district. “Officers can use the extra powers to stop-search individuals and hopefully ensure some potentially deadly weapons are taken off the streets.”
“We would want to reassure the public that we are allocating additional personnel to the region in order to ease any potential tensions, and we would like to continue our investigation into these two occurrences.
“If you have any information about the incidents, please contact us on 101, or via gmp.police.uk. Alternatively, you can call the independent charity Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555 111. Always dial 999 in an emergency.”
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