Phil McCann News, Manchester
Eighty people have been arrested as part of a police operation targeting part of a town where the force said “large gatherings of youths wearing balaclavas” had been causing trouble.
Operation Rimini has seen Greater Manchester Police (GMP) patrol Stockport since June 2023.
Last year, the force issued a dispersal order to deal with balaclava-clad young people who were “disturbing people” at the town’s new transport interchange.
Supt Dave Henthorne said “high-visibility policing” was making Stockport “a safer place”.
Stockport Interchange was opened in March 2024.
During its construction, however, councillors expressed fears that its rooftop park could become “the new Piccadilly Gardens” and be plagued by anti-social behaviour like the often trouble-hit area in Manchester city centre.
Last October, the force brought in a dispersal order covering a large area around the interchange for 48 hours.
Insp Jason Holmwood, from GMP’s Stockport division, stressed that the facility was “a great space”.
He added: “We do get a lot of young people and older people that use this space, and when we’ve got large congregations of people coming together we do occasionally see these issues with crime and antisocial behaviour.”
The force said Operation Rimini was “a combination of policing tactics including high-visibility patrols and plain clothes officers with extra resources committed to tackling crime in the town centre and surrounding areas”.
Since its launch two years ago there have been 80 arrests and 205 criminal charges.
Seven Criminal Behaviour Orders have also been issued, which Supt Henthorne said were “perfect” for dealing with prolific shoplifters in the town centre.
He said the orders banned them from going into some shops and associating with certain people.
Corin Allen, who works at food store Sterling Foods in Stockport’s Merseyway Shopping Centre, said he and his colleagues occasionally had to deal with people stealing stock.
But he said they “hear the horror stories” from the nearby Tesco and Greggs, where he said “people just go in and clear out shelving units”.
While Mr Allen said police were visible, he added: “When you see a large group riding round on their bikes or on motorcycles, the police are nowhere to be seen.”
The Manchester-based Co-op group has previously warned its staff in the north-west of England were being put at risk because police did not turn up on 75% of occasions when shoplifters had been detained by its store security teams.
Supt Henthorne said arrests for retail crime in Stockport were up 49%.
“This is something that we recognise affects people who work and live here,” he said.
The operation also involves officers from British Transport Police at the nearby railway station, as well as Trading Standards officers from Stockport Council, who have seized £129,000 in illegal vapes from local shops.
