‘Wolverine’ wins GMP Operation of the Year

Greater Manchester Police’s Operation Wolverine Sergeant, led by Sgt Mike Lawrenson, has won the force’s Operation of the Year award.  Announced at the Chief Constable’s Annual Awards ceremony on 13 October, the Wolverine team were praised for their efforts in addressing criminality and fraud in relation to vehicle insurance and driving licence offences.

Thanks to Op Wolverine, police officers in Greater Manchester are now taking more 1,000 vehicles off the road each month.

Wolverine was set up in 2007 to clamp down criminality and fraud in relation to insurance. In 2021, Sergeant Mike Lawrenson was installed into the unit with the aim of reducing the number of casualties on the region’s roads.

The force said his team ‘ ‘disrupt and retain’ ethos and used niche powers under road traffic laws to seize and keep hold of more vehicles in order to ‘deny criminals their assets.’

The number of cars, vans and motorbikes taken off the road has topped 1,000 each month, while the number of road deaths in Greater Manchester has dropped by 20 percent since 2021.

The Wolverine team picked up the National Police Chiefs’ Council’s award for ‘Outstanding Contribution for Road Safety at the UKROEd/NPCC Roads Policing conference.