Specialist police unit pays off as drugs and stolen cars seized

According to new figures, the county's dedicated Road Crime Unit recovered 125 stolen cars worth more than 1.8m in 2010, along with stolen property and drugs which were worth hundreds of thousands of pounds.

The 25-strong team can be deployed anywhere in South Yorkshire and targets crimes including burglaries in which car keys are stolen, drug dealing and those driving without a valid licence or without insurance.

Senior officers said they had their greatest success when they went out in "packs" which commonly include two marked patrol cars, two unmarked cars and officers on motorcycles in case a pursuit is required.

Insp Simon Slack, who leads the Road Crime Unit said: "We go out into areas across the county which have been flagged up by force intelligence as areas which are likely to suffer from certain types of crime.

"We don't usually get involved in the routine traffic incidents but concentrate on burglars, drug dealers and other organised crime and we generally go out in a pack to make our presence felt in those areas.

"As a team we pick up on trends, such as which neighbourhoods are likely to be hit and which routes and roads which are being used by offenders. We can often quickly form a picture of who is involved."

Insp Slack said the team used high-powered vehicles including the Mitsubishi Evolution and the new Vauxhall Insignia VXR to pursue criminals who tried to get away, adding the vehicles were an added deterrent.

He said: "We used to use Volvos but they weren't quite up to the standard we needed. The newer cars are right for the job and they allow us to work on estates and pursue offenders if we think it is necessary.

"Often criminals will see four of five Mitsubishi Evos in their mirror and they won't even try to get away. Some criminals have told us that that is the case, but if we were in another car they would try."

Each of the cars used by the unit is equipped with automatic number plate recognition technology and digital video cameras which allow for evidence gathering and instant checks on potentially suspect vehicles.

Officers in the team arrested 564 people who were suspected of a variety of offences in 2010 and seized 834 vehicles which were being used without insurance or by those without a licence.

Insp Slack said car thieves were getting more sophisticated and not only burgled houses to get keys for prestige cars, but also had equipment which allowed for reprogramming of a vehicle's onboard computer.

He added: "We caught a gang in Doncaster a few months ago who had a laptop which allowed them to reprogramme engine control units. We have also seized an Aston Martin which nobody came forward to claim.

"In the last couple of weeks we have stopped cars in Rotherham, one of which had a big box of cannabis in the boot and another which had a large amount of amphetamine on board.

"Another recent case uncovered a yard at Halfway in Sheffield where we found 17 stolen Transit vans which had been chopped up for parts and a few weeks ago we seized a brand new Ferrari for no insurance.

"Obviously the owner got cover and came back for that quite quickly."

Head of roads policing in South Yorkshire Chief Inspector Stuart Walne said: "In financial terms alone the value of drugs, stolen vehicles and other property recovered make the achievements of the team clear.

"These results are a testament to the hard work and skill of the officers. They also send out a message that criminality will not go undetected."