Undercover officers on the buses in Hartlepool

Officers from Hartlepool Neighbourhood Policing Team travelled undercover on buses in the town last week, in a bid to prevent mindless criminal damage.

Over the past six weeks windows on five buses have been smashed by youths throwing objects as they pass, causing fear and distress to passengers and bus drivers.

The operation ran between Tuesday 28^th and Thursday 30^th January, during which officers travelled in plain clothes to reassure the drivers and to catch anyone causing trouble.

Sergeant Ben Hayes said: “Thankfully we had no incidents during the operation, but the officers provided some welcome reassurance to the drivers and we managed to pick up intelligence from our time spent on the bus route.

“I’d like to reassure passengers that we hope to carry out operations like this again, and make it clear to any youngsters involved in this criminal activity that the buses have CCTV on board. If we have your image, we will not hesitate to work with local schools to identify you.  I’d ask parents to be aware of where their children are and what they are up to.”