A new Bury police boss has vowed officers will “target, prevent and deter” knife crime and anti-social behaviour on public transport.

Michael Barton has been chief inspector for operations in Bury for around five weeks.

He said that tackling knife crime on the transport network is one of the force's biggest priorities as he assisted with patrols at Bury Interchange as part of Greater Manchester Police's (GMP) monthly crack Operation Avro.

Avro is a region-wide scheme which aims to crackdown on crime and connect with the public.

And on Thursday, July 6, officers patrolled the transport network across the region, including in Bury, where police installed a metal-detecting knife arch.

Bury Times: Police officers patrolled the Bury Metrolink line as part of Operation Avro yesterday, ThursdayPolice officers patrolled the Bury Metrolink line as part of Operation Avro yesterday, Thursday (Image: Newsquest)

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Chief Insp Barton, whose role involves managing the response teams who deal with emergency calls and priority calls that come in from the public, outlined how police aim to keep people safe as they travel.

At the operation, he said: “We're here with Operation Avro to target, prevent and deter individuals who feel the need to carry weapons.

“We're here to prevent, detect and bring offenders to justice [but] we’re very acutely aware that some young individuals carry knives because they are vulnerable and there are opportunities for us in the police to intercept and signpost those young individuals which will help them see that carrying knives is not acceptable for society.”

Chief Insp Barton said anti-social behaviour is a particular concern for Bury and that this can escalate into individuals, especially young people, carrying knives.

Bury Times: Officers installed a knife arch at Bury Interchange as part of its initiative to tackle anti-social behaviour on the networkOfficers installed a knife arch at Bury Interchange as part of its initiative to tackle anti-social behaviour on the network (Image: Newsquest)

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He added that GMP continue to work with the TravelSafe Partnership who jointly operate around CCTV 3,800 cameras across the networks as well as dedicating 5,000 hours per week on patrols.

He advised commuters and travellers to speak to officers on patrol if they have any concerns while using the public transport network.

Chief Insp Barton added: “If you see an officer on patrol that is your first and probably primary way of contacting police we do try to be visible in the community but when we’re not there, they can call 101 or 999 in an emergency.

“We also have out online reporting platform where they can engage in a livechat with GMP and police will respond.”