First-of-its-kind partnership tackles illegal immigration in Wiltshire
Immigration officers will be stationed in Swindon for the coming months
A first-of-its-kind arrangement is helping Neighbourhood Policing Teams in Wiltshire crack down on people flouting immigrations laws.
Immigration officers are based alongside the county’s police officers, leading to better sharing of intelligence and more joint operations.
The partnership executed a series of warrants in Swindon this morning (24 June), leading to three people being arrested.
Jon Whittaker, Chief Immigration Officer, told Greatest Hits Radio: “Most of all, we come across a lot of individuals who have overstayed their visit visa to the UK. What that is, is that someone has come as a genuine visitor and then have a permitted leave of six months and then taken the decision to overstay that permitted leave, resulting in an offense for immigration.”
The cooperation started after immigration officers helped Wiltshire Police crack down on crime in the Broadgreen area of Swindon.
Now, five of them are stationed at Gablecross Police Station from where they can be deployed to other parts of Wiltshire and the South West if needed.
“It’s a new process, but even in the last few weeks we’ve seen great benefits already”, said Assistant Chief Constable, Ian Saunders.
“It really demonstrates how as a police force in Wiltshire, we’re looking to be forward-thinking, forward-leaning and innovative around making changes.”
While warrants are on the team’s agenda on a weekly basis, some cases are more complicated than others.
“We’ve certainly had a challenging case for the team today”, explained Jon Whittaker.
“When we’re presented with children being at the premise, we take a far lighter touch, ensuring that the safety of the children is paramount. And then we have to uphold the law in relation to immigration and take and sort of action we deem necessary based on the merit to the individual cases and what offenses are being committed.”
Apart from reducing the illegal immigration population, immigration officers and the Neighbourhood Policing Team also work to tackle illegal working in the county.
Known as Operation Mosedale, the teams mostly target delivery drivers and corner shop staff.
“Working as a partner agency with each other is collaborative, is dynamic and it’s a really good opportunity for us to safeguard our communities on an extra level”, added PC Sinead Musgrove from the Neighbourhood Policing Team.
“It’s a brilliant relationship that we’ve got and Swindon is very lucky to have this opportunity to work with immigration and for our communities as well.”