Police operation reduces assaults

The police used fingerprint scanners during the operation

More than 600 alcohol-related crimes were tackled by Derbyshire police during an eight-week campaign.

Operation Relentless was set up to target alcohol and drug-related disorder, violent crimes and domestic abuse from 2 June to 27 July.

The police increased patrols, used new head-cam technology and installed metal detectors at pubs and clubs to help find weapons.

There was also an 18% reduction in the number of assaults, police said.

Increased weekend patrols meant more alcohol-related crimes were detected by officers - 665 compared with 279 in the same period last year.

There were 665 reported incidents of domestic abuse compared with 621 for the same period last year.

The number of assaults with injury were down from 1,705 in 2007 to 1,386 incidents during Operation Relentless.

Assistant chief constable Peter Goodman, who led the operation, said: "The focus of this campaign has been innovation, using new technology, discovering best practice and devising different ways to improve our services for victims and the public at large."