It’s 7am on a gloriously dark and wet Tuesday morning and more than 200 police officers are lined up in unison in an empty car park underneath Stretford Police Station for a briefing from Trafford's Chief Superintendent Colette Rose.
Not even an hour later and 20 of those officers have discovered 80 cannabis plants at a house on Premier Street in Old Trafford.
The others find themselves heading to various other drugs raids, traffic operations, land searches and wanted persons arrests as the day goes on.
Read more: Brits asked 'not to socialise unless they need to' before Christmas as new strain of Covid spreads
It’s all part of a force-led day of action across Trafford under initiative Operation Avro, which pools the police’s resources and specialist officers together to combat crimes and issues in each of Manchester’s boroughs.
A similar effort was carried out in Salford last month to much success and the Manchester Evening News was invited to join officers for the day - watching first hand how police briefings are dealt in the boardroom and how criminals are caught.
By lunchtime, police had carried out 14 raids and made eight arrests across the borough.
At 7.30am, a fleet of police vans make their way to an address on Shrewsbury Street in Old Trafford where a drugs warrant has been issued.
Inside the property, officers find five large dogs and a specialist dog unit is called to help assist with the warrants.
“We’ve executed a warrant on suspicion that there are drugs on this premises,” Deputy Chief Constable Terry Woods says outside the property.
"It’s a large property with many officers inside doing a thorough search to see if we can establish any offences particularly around drug dealing.
“We targeted this address due to community concern around drug dealing.
“Trafford is a good area but the community feeds through a lot of information about drug dealing, anti-social behaviour and criminality.”
Speaking about Operation Avro, DCC Woods says he hopes it's a chance for the police to reestablish trust and build a stronger relationship with the wider Trafford community.
“Today we're executed a large number of warrants, big profile operations targeting drivers with no insurance and criminals who are wanted,” he explains.
“It’s basically a big sweep of Trafford with partners and the council to make an impact and so the public can see that Greater Manchester Police is a force for good.
“This is what we all joined the police force to do.
“This is something we will keep doing, so my message to criminals is - pack it in, or next month we might be on your doorstep.”
As officers search through the property on Shrewsbury Street, a number of other warrants are being executed.
In Stretford, officers arrest one person after finding a cannabis farm, while another team carries out a drugs warrant in Hale.
At the same time, the Trafford West Neighbourhood team and Trafford Council’s Safer Neighbourhood Team are conducting a land search at Oak Road Park in Partington.
The search comes after intelligence suggested the area could be used to hide knives, and officers soon recover a mountain bike thought to have been stolen.
After a quick pitstop back at Stretford Police Station for bacon sandwiches - a must in keeping any police force satisfied, we’re reliably informed - it’s back into the van for a new briefing at Altrincham Police Station.
Just after 10am, officers execute drugs warrants at two addresses on Beechlands in Timperley.
As neighbours pop out into the street to see what’s going on, officers ram through the front door of one of the properties - all while keeping a festive wreath fully in-tact.
At the address, they discover a small quantity of class B drugs, some cash and two BB guns.
Meanwhile, Assistant Chief Constable Scott Green joins officers around Trafford as part of Operation Considerate, a traffic operation taking place in support of Operation Avro.
The operation sees officers seize a vehicle on Kent Road in Partington for no tax and for being left in a dangerous condition.
On Station Road in Dunham Massey, neighbourhood officers speak to drivers about speed awareness after complaints of excessive speeding in the area.
In Hale, Chief Constable Stephen Watson gives a briefing to his officers before speaking to members of the community.
Elsewhere, more than 20 officers and PCSOs carry out a weapons sweep near to School Walk in Old Trafford.
Speaking to the M.E.N, Chief Supt Rose said the day was about putting criminals under pressure and fighting to prevent and reduce crime.
“Operation Avro is about taking the fight back to the door of the criminals in Trafford,” she said.
“We’ve been planning this for a few weeks now - a lot of planning has gone into this.
“We’ve had between 200 and 300 officers working on this operation today and we have different partner agencies working alongside us - it’s a real all hands to the pump operation.”
The Ch Supt, who joined Trafford in September having already spent 25 years with GMP, said she was hoping to be part of a bright future for the police force.
“It’s been a really great challenge so far,” she explained.
“Everybody is really excited for the new GMP and I’m proud to be leading the team through those changes.
“There’s lots of issues we’re trying to tackle in Trafford and it’s important to identify that different communities have different problems.
“In some areas it’s anti-social behaviour while in others it’s burglary issues, and we need to see that one cap doesn’t fit all in the way we approach them.
“It’s really important that we get into the community and they feel that the police are there to help and support them.
“We all need to be working together to make Trafford safer.”
Get more news from where you live by subscribing to the free MyTrafford newsletter here.
