Greater Manchester Police has announced a rebranding of its city centre task force as they bid to tackle major crime in Manchester post-lockdown.
The unit, which is made up of six PCs, is being reshaped as ‘Operation Orion’; building intelligence around high-level offences involving drugs and violence.
Covering the whole of the city centre, the operation pays special focus towards criminal hotspots such as Piccadilly Gardens, Northern Quarter and Back Piccadilly.
So far in 2020, the unit has successfully arrested over 100 offenders in the city – including a warrant which resulted in the recovery of spice manufacturing ingredients with potential street value of £14,300.
Operation Orion has also helped to lock away offenders for a combined total of 21.5 years.
Talking to The Manc about the rebrand, Inspector Jon Shilvock stated:
“I felt that [the unit] needed more of an identity so we could increase the awareness – both internally within the organisation, and externally so members of the public could understand our objectives.
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“Op Orion’s focus is on problem-solving in a covert fashion to reduce high-level crime – with ongoing investigations to build intelligence and cases.
“We also push for Criminal Behaviour Orders. If there are people bringing misery to the city, Op Orion will build the intelligence around them to try and secure a CBO – which will ban them from certain areas.
“It’s an ongoing battle to bring the criminals to justice.”
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The outbreak of coronavirus has forced many businesses and offices across Manchester to batten down the hatches as they temporarily vacated their premises, and some opportunist criminals seized the initiative to break into empty stores.
However, Operation Orion responded quickly to apprehend the culprits and the number of burglaries has rapidly reduced since March.
“There have been ongoing burglaries overnight of commercial premises, but we have had a significant level of arrests of people found on the premises or tracked down moments later because of proactive policing in the area,” explained Inspector Shilvock.
“With the lockdown, businesses shuttered up and were quite vulnerable, so we ensured there was 24-hour policing in the city.
“Whilst we saw a spike in burglaries at the start, we made several successful arrests, which has meant a lot of the known criminals are now in jail – and we have since seen a significant decrease as a result.
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“We arrested several who were known to prey on businesses and these people are now serving custodial sentences; in the end we saw a huge drop.”
Peter McDermott / Geograph
Drug offences in the city centre have remained prevalent even in lockdown, but Operation Orion has committed to finding figures at the top of the supply chain as well as those present on the streets.
Inspector Shilvock said: “Drug dealing has still been ongoing but has decreased slightly – you still get people coming into Manchester city centre to buy the drugs because that’s the area they previously bought from and it’s the area they’re familiar with.
“Our aim is to not only deal with the drug dealers but to go as far up as we can; this will reduce the supply in the city and reduce the ripple effects that it has on the economy, residents and the businesses in the area.”
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Operation Orion represents a significant move on the part of GMP to lower criminal activity, but Inspector Shilvock has also appealed to the public for help.
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“I must reiterate that people need to report everything they can to us,” the officer commented.
“If they report things, we can see a repeated trend or pattern and we can put something in place and Op Orion can counter this behaviour.
“Whether it’s 101 or 999, please call. If you’re worried about giving your name, please go through Crimestoppers where you can remain anonymous.
“With more information from the public, the more we can do.”
News
Beloved plant-based independent street food business Herbivorous is set to close imminently
Danny Jones
We hate writing this, but we have news of yet another local hospitality closure as beloved Manchester-born and pioneering plant-based brand Herbivorous has confirmed they’ll soon be calling it a day.
If you can hear us sighing through the screen, apologies – we’re just getting really fed up of saying farewell to our favourites, so god knows how rubbish those involved feel.
As you can see, the team behind the multi-location vegan street food specialists began by writing: “It’s a long one so stay with me… It seems you can’t open social media at the moment without reading about another hospitality business closing down.
“Throughout 8 years of Herbivorous years we’ve come up against many challenges from Covid 5 years ago to watching all the big vegan brands from London and beyond come to Manchester and largely disappear again to the closure of Hatch our busiest site, but with continually increasing costs its becoming really difficult to maintain a thriving business.”
Herbivorous started out life back in 2016 as a cult hit at the old outdoor food, drink and entertainment hub centring around a ‘container village’, the first of its kind in the city and soon to reopen under new owners and a new name.
Since then, co-founders Robyn and Damian have gone on to expand not just to one permanent site over in Withington but with outposts in Sheffield and York, having gained a strong reputation with stalls and pop-ups all over.
Their hospitality story might not have the ending we personally would hope for, but it’s been a brilliant one for so many foodie fans – us lot included.
Nevertheless, they go on to add in the emotional statement that external pressures such as a recent bereavement and their own ever-growing family have also contributed to the decision which, despite being an understandably hard one, “feel like the right time.”
“We are so incredibly proud of how far we’ve come from spending long days slinging duck wraps from our green vintage horse box at festivals to three Herbi locations across the North of England”, they continue, “and with that we’ve also met so many fantastic people!”
“Whether you worked for us at a few festivals over [the] summer or for years at our restaurant, we just wanted to say and massive thank you! The memories will stay with us forever and, of course, how can we not mention our fabulous customers!
“Thank you all so much for choosing Herbivorous over the years. Those of you who had our food at Festivals and then found us at one of our permanent locations, those of you who came back week after week to Hatch, Spark, Withington and beyond.”
They signed off by detailing their final business days, with their Sheffield Kommune spot having already shut for refurbishment; meanwhile, their spot in SPARK York will be wrapping up on Saturday, 19 April.
As for their flagship brick-and-mortar venue here in Greater Manchester, Herbivorous Withington will be shutting on Friday, 25 April.
Once again, there’s nothing we can say other than thank you for years of delicious food, that we’re guttted to see you go, and that everyone at The Manc Group wishes you the best whatever comes next.
AJ Tracey is playing a VERY intimate gig in Manchester next month
Thomas Melia
London rapper and respected grime artist AJ Tracey is ‘live and direct’ once again, announcing a whole host of UK dates, one of which is a rather intimate gig right here in Manchester.
It’s official: one of UK rap’s leading gents is getting back on the road and he’s showing a ‘Little More Love’ to lots of cities, including Manchester.
In a post on the UK star’s socials, AJ Tracey trades his music persona for that of a sports pundit as he announces the dates for his upcoming tour while impersonating an F1 commentator.
Anyone looking to attend Tracey’s ‘Not Even A Tour’ can catch the star up and down the country on his over 20-date tour with a stop in Manchester as soon as this month.
The rapper has reached phenomenal heights since dropping the unforgettable ‘Ladbroke Grove’ in 2019 and is heading out across the nation to make sure everyone knows about it.
Get ready to spit bars left and right as this rapper’s discography is stacked with serious tunes like ‘Dinner Guest’, ‘West Ten’, ‘Thiago Silva’ and more.
More recently, he collaborated with Walsall’s finest Jorja Smith for a flirty garage beat also known as ‘Crush’ with the video being the two artists talking it out in a good old fashioned caff.
The latest collaboration with Smith marks the start of a new era for Mr. Live and direct as it fell in line with the announcement of his third studio album.
Titled Don’t Die Before You’re Dead, we’re sure he’ll be “building a vibe” wherever he goes and probably previewing a few exclusive tracks from his upcoming project too.
This gig may come as quite a surprise for any hardcore fans of the ‘Ladbroke Grove’ star as the venue in which he’s performing is definitely intimate only, holding just over 250 guests.
This rap giant is bringing his unbelievable beats to none other than the legendary small-cap city centre live music venue, The Deaf Institute, at the end of this month.
It’s safe to say you won’t get many more chances, if any, to see him in such a tight-knit space again.
AJ Tracey is bringing ‘Not Even A Tour’ to Deaf Institute in Manchester on 30 April, with tickets on sale Friday 4 April from 12 noon.
The Manc -
19th June 2020 
