OPERATION Cracker 2003, Salisbury police's crackdown on Christmas shoplifting, is about to spring into action.
The force is aiming to repeat the successes of previous years, which have seen dozens of people arrested and goods worth several thousand pounds recovered.
The operation, which begins on Saturday and runs until Christmas Eve, will involve officers from the city centre patrol working with store detectives.
Uniformed and plain clothes police will liaise closely with CCTV operators.
Sergeant Rick Taylor, in charge of city centre policing, said: "We have learned so much in recent years and shoplifters should be deterred from targeting Salisbury.
"If they ignore the warning, however, the co-operation between ourselves, the stores and the city's CCTV has led to a good results in the past, and they must know we shall be extra-vigilant in the next few weeks."
Last year's operation resulted in 93 arrests and the recovery of more than £5,000-worth of goods.
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