Anyone appearing to be up to no good in Cheshire could be handed a 'Yellow Card' by police in an effort to deter criminals.
Officers from Cheshire Constabulary are issuing the cards to anyone suspected of committing criminal activity.
According to the force, a crime will not have to be in progress for the warning cards to be handed out, but they will be used if "police intelligence" suggests that the individual is involved in criminal behaviour.
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If the same person is stopped a second time and officers suspect they may be up to no good, then a second yellow card will be issued and then a range of options will be considered including dispersal notices and civil orders.
A record will be kept of those people spoken to, and this information will be reviewed should any crimes subsequently come to light.
Operation Yellow card will apply to people from outside the county who are not believed to have a legitimate reason for being in the area, as well as locals suspected to be carrying out criminal activity.
Chief Constable Mark Roberts said: “The message is clear, if you are coming into or travelling through Cheshire to commit a crime then we are watching you and you are not welcome.
“If we believe you are involved in criminality we will target you, and when we issue the Yellow Card we will explain to you why we are targeting you.
“This is not about stopping people indiscriminately and issuing them with a yellow card unnecessarily, it is about disrupting and deterring crime to help prevent Cheshire residents becoming a victim of crime.”
As well as deterring criminals, the Constabulary hopes this course of action will help reassure the wider public that criminal behaviour will not be tolerated in Cheshire.
Chief Constable Roberts added: “We’re making Cheshire a hostile place for criminals and
the law-abiding citizens of Cheshire can rest assured that we will continue to target and catch those people who think they can come into our county and commit crime.”
“Criminals from outside of the county might think that travelling into Cheshire gives them an advantage, whereas through a range of methods we actually identify them quickly. Through initiatives like this, we’re determined to make life as difficult as possible for criminals, and you need to know that if you are issued with a yellow card we will be proactively targeting your criminal activity should you return to Cheshire."
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