Good to catch up with Oldham district’s Chief Superintendent Estelle Mathieson once again at Oldham Police Station. We had a really constructive conversation about the challenges Oldham, Chadderton & Royton are facing – such as youth knife crime, and organised crime – and the work already happening to keep people safe, by tackling both the crime and its causes.
A big part of the discussion was the new Oldham police station. I made it clear that this shouldn’t just be a rebuild. We need it to come with the right facilities for a modern police service and wider justice centre. That means custody cells and proper court provision returning on site, so we are not sending people all across Greater Manchester and slowing down the whole process. I will keep pushing for this because Oldham deserves nothing less.
We also talked about Operation Vulcan. It has made a real difference in Derker and we want to see a similar form of focused action extended to more parts of the borough, including places like Limeside which has some of the highest rates of Section 60 ‘stop and searches’ in our city-region.
This goes alongside the need to bring back community institutions which help those potentially vulnerable to criminal exploitation and offer a path to a better future. Local residents see the impact of crime & antisocial behaviour every day and they want to know that support is reaching every community.
As always, if there are issues you want me to raise directly, please get in touch at jim.mcmahon.mp@parliament.uk or 0161 652 8485. Keeping our community safe is a shared effort and I will keep working with GMP to make sure Oldham gets the attention and investment it needs.
Jim McMahon OBE MP 