THE howls of police dogs filled the car park of Staffordshire Police’s headquarters as hundreds of officers gathered at the crack of dawn to help snare some of Burton’s most wanted suspected drug dealers.
As officers and police staff warmed themselves against the bitter morning cold with hot coffee and tea, Chief Constable Mike Cunningham took to the stage to rally his troops.
He told a packed room at the force’s base in Weston Road, Stafford, at just after 5.30am that it was ‘days like these that we are all glad to be part of Staffordshire Police’.
He said: “It is great to see everyone come together as one big team. It is at times like this that we can all be proud of Staffordshire Police and the work that we do.
“We will have a massive impact by coming down hard on these people. We have mounds of evidence against them.
“As we speak there are 15 asleep in their beds unaware about what is about to happen to them. They have been a problem and a plague for some time and this is about to stop.
“We are not going to stop until we have brought these people to justice.
“They have been causing problems for the community for some time. Today is the time to stop them.
“This kind of mission backs up why we are here – to help keep people reassured and, above all else, safe. This is a great example of this and what we do.”
As the briefing was brought to a close, officers filed out to their respective vehicles.
A convoy of vans, cars and support vehicles then navigated through the early morning traffic via the A50 and the A38 before streaming into Burton with targets in sight.
Units spilt off in several directions with their prey laying unaware of what was about to happen.
As the morning sun started to rise, officers arrived at addresses across the town and ‘knocked’ on the door of 15 different addresses. The wake up call they delivered was one that nobody residing at the homes is ever likely to forget.
