Police team add bite to operation

Police Dog Luther and handler PC Phil Monaghan

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GMP is stepping up patrols to prevent cash-in-transit robberies in the run-up to Christmas.

And a four-legged friend is a new member of the crack team looking to keep security guards safe.

Eleven-month-old police dog Luther, who joined GMP when he was eight weeks old, will be joining the patrols with his handler PC Phil Monaghan and his other police dog Trouble, aged seven-and-a-half. Both are black German Shepherds.

PC Monaghan said: "I have had Luther since he was eight weeks old and this will be his first Christmas on patrol joining Trouble who I have been working with for six years. They are a great team."

Patrols will be routinely following vans delivering and collecting cash from ATMs, banks and shops to ensure security guards remain safe during their busiest time of the year.

Det Supt Mark Smith said: "We will be keeping a close watch over the vans and using a range of specialist resources including the police dogs like Luther. Cash-in-transit robberies are serious and often violent crimes that put drivers and the wider community at risk.

"We will be working with colleagues from forces across the North West as we know the criminals will travel across the region to commit these crimes. The message is simple we are using everything we can to make it difficult for criminals this Christmas."

Information and intelligence is shared with detectives from Titan, the regional organised crime unit and officers from Merseyside, Lancashire, Cheshire, Cumbria and North Wales.

Anyone with information about cash-in-transit robberies should contact 101 or the independent charity Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555111.